news – NASA HESTO

Miniaturized Particle Telescope Infused into Deep Space Asteroid Mission

by Scott Schairenews October 1, 2026No Comments

To understand space’s hazardous radiation environment, scientists need high-resolution measurements of energetic electrons and protons. Supported by NASA’s Heliophysics Technology and Instrument Development for Science (HTIDeS) program, Principal Investigator Dr. Xinlin Li and his team at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) have successfully miniaturized a Flagship-class (Van Allen Probes) particle detector technology …

HESTO-Funded Ion Mass Spectrometer Wins Prestigious R&D 100 Award

by Scott Schairenews, selection announcement September 24, 2026September 24, 2026No Comments

The Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) has been awarded a highly respected 2026 R&D 100 Award, in the Process/Prototyping category, for development of the Autonomous Ion Mass Spectrometer Sentry (AIMSS). Referred to as the “Oscars of Invention,” the R&D 100 Awards honor the 100 most technologically significant innovations introduced globally each year, judged by an …

NASA Secures Patent for Next-Generation EUV Photon Sieve

by Scott Schairenews, project, selection announcement September 17, 2026September 17, 2026No Comments

The Innovation: A Step Beyond On September 1, 2026, a patent was officially issued to NASA for a revolutionary method of fabricating “binary-phase photon sieves.” A photon sieve is a flat, ultra-thin membrane covered in millions of mathematically positioned microscopic holes that acts as a lens, using diffraction to perfectly focus Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) light …

HELIOTECH/Orbital Flight: Forging Partnerships That Ignite Science

by Roshanak Hakimzadehevent, news September 4, 2026September 16, 2026No Comments

Thank you for attending the fourth annual HELIOTECH symposium in partnership with NASA Orbital Flight and hosted at the Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland. We hope this symposium week has forged new partnerships toward building the foundation for the next generation of space weather and Heliophysics missions. This year’s weeklong HELIOTECH symposium brought …

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

by Scott Schairenews August 13, 2026August 13, 2026No Comments

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

by Scott Schairenews August 6, 2026No Comments

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

by Scott Schairenews July 30, 2026July 30, 2026No Comments

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

by Scott Schairenews July 23, 2026No Comments

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 …

LARADO-N: Tracking Dangerous Space Debris

by Chris Flemingnews July 16, 2026July 16, 2026No Comments

The Lightsheet Anomaly Resolution and Debris Observation – Neuromorphic (LARADO-N) mission, led by Andrew Nicholas from the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL), successfully launched from Space Launch Complex 8 at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on April 7, 2026, aboard Space Test Program S29A (STP-S29A) on a Northrop Grumman Minotaur IV rocket. LARADO-N (22 …

New National Academies Report released on A Science Strategy for Human Exploration of Mars

by Steve Christenews January 30, 2026January 30, 2026No Comments

A new National Academies report establishes searching for evidence of existing or past life on Mars as the top science priority for the first human mission to the red planet, alongside 10 other key objectives that include critical space physics priorities such as characterizing radiation at key locations in crew habitats and sampling sites, determining …