Updates

Stay in the loop

This page lists the latest news and updates from all the instruments, regardless of which mission it is on. The latest news is at the top, with older updates following. Use the check boxes at right to filter the updates to show only those for a particular instrument.

Instrument

Phase

Location

09.06.16
Mars ‘wet streaks’ are dry, says THEMIS data

It’s uncanny. Dark finger-like streaks form on dozens of Martian crater rims and hillsides as local spring warms into summer. The streaks lengthen down the slopes until summer’s height, then stop growing and fade as fall comes on.

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09.06.16
OSIRIS-REx and OTES pass readiness review

OSIRIS-REx (and OTES) pass launch readiness review, spacecraft powered on. Looks good for launch in 2 days!

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05.20.16
OTES shipped to Cape Canaveral

The OSIRIS-REx spacecraft, with OTES on board, has been shipped from Lockheed Martin in Denver to the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Florida. There both spacecraft and OTES will be prepared for the September 2016 launch.

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03.30.16
OTES completes spacecraft thermal-vacuum testing

The OSIRIS-REx Thermal Emission Spectrometer (OTES) has been integrated with the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft and it has successfully completed its thermal-vacuum testing at Lockheed Martin in Denver.

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06.26.15
Million-mile journey to an asteroid begins

A journey that will stretch millions of miles and take years to complete begins with a short trip to a loading dock. After three months of round-the-clock testing, OTES is shipping out for the solar system.

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06.19.15
THEMIS makes 60,000 orbits of Red Planet

Next week, THEMIS, a visual and infrared camera designed at Arizona State University will pass 60,000 orbits of the Red Planet. It is carried on NASA’s Mars Odyssey orbiter, the longest-operating spacecraft from any nation at Mars. Since arriving there, the ASU camera has taken nearly 400,000 images.

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