NASA, DOE, and Princeton: Combining Forces to Safeguard the US Power Grid and More

The Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) Facility for Laboratory Reconnection Experiments (FLARE) is advancing its capabilities through the NASA Heliophysics Technology (HESTO) Heliophysics Technology and Instrument Development for Science (H-TIDeS) program. The FLARE facility is adding soft X-ray tomography, electron energy analyzers, and sophisticated Artificial Intelligence (AI) models to enable non-invasive mapping of superheated plasma …

MiniMag: Big Opportunities in a Small Package

The Mini Magnetometer (MiniMag), developed by a team at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) at the University of Colorado, is a highly compact, single-sensor magnetometer using the Faraday effect to measure a broad range of magnetic fields – from static direct current to high-frequency alternating current. This new instrument concept combines capabilities …

Automated Data Pipeline Revolutionizes HESTO Portfolio Reporting

HESTO has successfully developed and deployed its new Automated Data Pipeline, a Python-based portfolio data parsing pipeline that will eliminate manual compilation of program metrics. Shaun Hoffman, the HESTO summer intern who developed HESTO’s new Automated Data Pipeline, presented a poster on his work at the capstone poster session at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility on …

AIMSS: Shaping a More Secure Space Environment

The Autonomous Ion Mass Spectrometer Sentry (AIMSS) team at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) celebrated the launch of their payload to the International Space Station (ISS) on May 15, 2026. AIMSS was launched as a part of the Department of War (DoW) Space Test Program Houston-11 (STP-H11) mission on SpaceX’s Dragon’s 34th Commercial Resupply Services …