The Brinson Exploration Hub at Caltech has selected three projects and one mission concept for further development by teams co-led by engineers and scientists at the university and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. Each was selected for its ability to drive scientific and societal benefit, take advantage of emerging opportunities in the broader Earth and space exploration ecosystem, and be executed with speed and risk tolerance.
- SCWI (STABLE Cosmic Web Imager), a high-altitude-balloon-borne telescope, will image the faint cosmic web in the ultraviolet spectrum from the South Pole. Co-led by JPL’s Laura Jones-Wilson and Caltech’s Chris Martin.
- GLASS (Grounding zone Long-term Acoustic Sensing of Structure) will deploy 6 miles (10 kilometers) of fiber-optic cable to take seismic imaging data at the grounding line of an Antarctic glacier (where floating ice shelves, ocean, and land meet). Co-led by JPL’s Joel Steinkraus and Caltech’s Zhongwen Zhan.
- SURGE (SUbsurface Robotics for Grounding zone Exploration) will use an autonomous underwater robotic vehicle called IceNode to measure melt beneath Antarctic ice shelves. Co-led by JPL’s Paul Glick and Caltech’s Andy Thompson.
- CLARITI (Caltech-JPL Lunar Autonomous Reconnaissance Investigation and Technology Infusion) is a concept for a lunar orbiter that would map the Moon’s surface topography and gravity fields. Co-led by JPL’s Ryan Park and Caltech’s Aaron Ames.
Caltech manages JPL for NASA. Read more about the Brinson Hub selections on Caltech’s website here.