Satellites

This test image from one of the four cameras aboard the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) captures a swath of the southern sky along the plane of our galaxy. More than 200,000 stars are visible. The image, which is centered in the constellation Centaurus, includes dark tendrils from the Coal Sack Nebula and the bright emission nebula Ced 122 (upper right).The bright star at bottom cente...

TESS takes initial test image

Exoplanet-seeking satellite developed by MIT swings by moon toward final orbit.

May 18, 2018

An artist concept depicts TESS in front of a lava planet orbiting its host star.

Ushering in the next phase of exoplanet discovery

Professor Sara Seager previews a new era of discovery as a leader of the TESS mission, which is expected to find some 20,000 extrasolar planets.

May 3, 2018

A set of flight camera electronics on one of the TESS cameras, developed by the MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research (MKI), will transmit exoplanet data from the camera to a computer aboard the spacecraft that will process it before transmitting it back to scientists on Earth.

TESS readies for takeoff

Satellite developed by MIT aims to discover thousands of nearby exoplanets, including at least 50 Earth-sized ones.

April 12, 2018

Aviation Week Network “20 Twenties” award recipient Alexa Aguilar is a grad student working in AeroAstro’s Space Telecommunications, Astronomy, and Radiation Laboratory (STAR Lab) on the Cubesat Lasercommunication Infrared CrosslinK mission. She assisted with an engineering model assembly that identified problem areas in the initial design.

Two from AeroAstro named to Aviation Week's “20 Twenties” for 2018

Grad students Alexa Aguilar and Arthur J. Brown receive honor that recognizes outstanding student academic performance, civic contributions, and research.

January 17, 2018

An engineer installs SensorSat, developed at Lincoln Laboratory, in the thermal-vacuum chamber used for testing the satellite's tolerance of conditions in space.

Monitoring activity in the geosynchronous belt

New ORS-5 SensorSat satellite developed at the MIT Lincoln Laboratory is fulfilling a critical need for situational awareness in space.

November 29, 2017

An artist’s conception of a view from within the Exocomet system KIC 3542116.

Scientists detect comets outside our solar system

Team of professional and citizen scientists identifies tails of comets streaking past a distant star.

October 25, 2017

Scientists in MIT’s Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences (EAPS) have for the first time determined the strength of the stratosphere’s circulation, based on observations of key chemicals traveling within this atmospheric layer.

Strength of global stratospheric circulation measured for first time

Estimate will help gauge hang time of greenhouse gases, water vapor, and ozone in upper atmosphere.

August 28, 2017

Danielle Wood spoke at the Media Lab’s space event, Beyond the Cradle, in March. She will join the faculty full-time in January 2018.

Danielle Wood joins Media Lab faculty

MIT alumna is establishing a new research group aimed at harnessing space engineering to improve life on Earth.

August 28, 2017

Engineers test one of the TESS cameras at the Kavli Institute lab.

TESS mission to discover new planets moves toward launch

Satellite’s cameras have been delivered by MIT researchers and passed NASA inspection.

August 4, 2017

As principal investigator of the Psyche mission, Lindy Elkins-Tanton '87, SM ’87, PhD ’02 is just the second woman to lead a NASA spacecraft mission to a planetary body. The first was her former MIT colleague, Vice President for Research Maria Zuber.

Exploring an unusual metal asteroid

Alumna and former MIT professor Lindy Elkins-Tanton is working with MIT faculty in her role as principal investigator for NASA's upcoming Psyche mission.

July 25, 2017