jet propulsion laboratory
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NASA’s Voyager 1 Spacecraft Briefly Reconnects, Keeping Hope Alive for the Historic Mission
The Voyager 1 spacecraft sent a new signal that contains valuable data, which may save the aging probe. Engineers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory are currently looking for discrepancies in the message in order to find out why the spacecraft—the farthest piece of human technology from Earth—has been speaking gibberish for the past few months.…
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NASA’s Mars Helicopter Will Do a ‘Wiggle’ Test After Fatal Malfunction
It’s been a week since NASA announced the end of its Mars helicopter mission, and we’re still not over losing our beloved Ginny. But apparently, neither is NASA, as the space agency is still trying to figure out what happened during Ingenuity’s last flight on Mars. During a livestream held on Wednesday to pay tribute…
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Layoffs Loom at NASA After Termination of Over 100 Contractors Amid Mars Budget Constraints
NASA is scaling back on its ambitious Mars Sample Return (MSR) program, fearing federal budget cuts to the space agency’s plan to bring back rock and dust from the Red Planet, which has come under heavy scrutiny for having unrealistic costs and timelines. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) reportedly laid off 100 contractors last week…
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California Legislators Slam ‘Rash’ NASA Cuts to Marquee Mars Mission
Six California lawmakers wrote to NASA Administrator Bill Nelson last week to oppose the agency’s recent cuts to the Mars Sample Return mission, which aims to bring samples collected by the Perseverance rover on Mars to Earth. The letter was written by congresspeople Judy Chu, Laphonza Butler, Mike Garcia, and Young Kim, as well as…