Advanced Image Processing
Design and development of algorithms, applications and architectures for image coding, filtering, enhancement, restoration, segmentation, mosaicking, terrain generation, mapping, display, etc.

Advanced Instrument Systems (AIS)
Design and develop complex instrument systems to support commanding, state monitoring, data acquisition, realtime alignment control algorithms, science processing and data delivery.

Advanced Multimission Operations System (MGSS AMMOS)
The Advanced Multimission Operations System enables Principal Investigators to directly, immediately, flexibly and seamlessly interact with their instruments and their data from wherever they are located.

Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER)
The Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer, flying on the Earth Observing System's Terra spacecraft, is being used to obtain detailed maps of land surface temperature, reflectance and elevation.

Aerosol Measurement and Processing System (AMAPS)
The Aerosol Measurement and Processing System (AMAPS) is a distributed, grid-enabled data analysis environment for aerosol science.

Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS)
AVIRIS is a proven instrument in the realm of Earth Remote Sensing. It is a unique optical sensor that delivers calibrated images of the upwelling spectral radiance in 224 contiguous spectral channels (bands) with wavelengths from 400 to 2500 nanometers.

Aquarius
Aquarius will fly on an Argentinean spacecraft and will measure sea surface salinity. Sea surface salinity is an important factor in determining ocean currents.

ATHLETE
A robotic vehicle that is capable of efficient rolling mobility over Apollo-like undulating terrain and walking over extremely rough or steep terrain, enabling future robotic and human lunar missions.

Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS)
The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder, AIRS, is an instrument whose goal is to support climate research and improved weather forecasting.

Cassini-Huygens
The Cassini-Huygens spacecraft is currently exploring the ringed planet, Saturn, its mysterious moons, its stunning rings and its complex magnetic environment.

Moon Minerology Mapper (M³) (Chandrayaan-1)
M³ is a state-of-the-art imaging spectrometer that will provide the first map of the entire lunar surface at high spatial and spectral resolution, revealing the minerals of which it is made.

CloudSat
CloudSat is the first spacecraft to study clouds on a global basis. The mission will use an advanced radar to "slice" through clouds to see their vertical structure, providing a completely new observational capability from space.

Dawn
Dawn's goal is to characterize the conditions and processes of the solar system's earliest epoch by investigating in detail two of the largest protoplanets remaining intact since their formations.

Deep Space 1
In the mid-1990s, a NASA program was created at JPL called New Millennium which was designed to flight-test new technologies for future space and Earth-observing missions. The first flight project created under New Millennium was Deep Space 1.

Deep Space Network (DSN)
The NASA Deep Space Network is an international network of antennas that supports interplanetary spacecraft missions and radio and radar astronomy observations for the exploration of the solar system and the universe.

DESDynl
A dedicated U.S. InSar and LIDAR mission optimized for studying hazards and global environmental change.

EarthKAM
Since 1996, EarthKAM students have taken thousands of photographs of Earth by using the world wide web to direct a digital camera on select space flights and currently on the International Space Station.

ENose
The Electronic Nose, with a much wider dynamic range than the human nose, is being designed to monitor the air on future manned spacecraft and detect toxic substances.

ExoMars
Due to reach Mars in 2015, ESA's ExoMars mission will include a Mars rover contained within a Descent Module, and possibly an orbiter.

Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX)
The Galaxy Evolution Explorer is an orbiting space telescope that makes observations at ultraviolet wavelengths to measure the history of star formation in the universe 80 percent of the way back to the Big Bang.

Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE)
GRACE, the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment, twin satellites launched in March 2002, are making detailed measurements of Earth's gravity field which will lead to discoveries about gravity and Earth's natural systems.

Grist
The Grist project has delivered the NVO Extensible Secure Scalable Service Infrastructure (NESSSI) to the National Virtual Observatory community to make it easy to deploy astronomical algorithms as web-based services.

Herschel
The Herschel Space Observatory is a space-based telescope that will study the Universe by the light of the far-infrared and submillimeter portions of the spectrum.

InSAR Working Group
The role of an Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar observational capability spans a broad spectrum of end uses.

James Webb Space Telescope (JWST)
The James Webb Space Telescope is a large, infrared-optimized space telescope, scheduled for launch in 2013. JWST will find the first galaxies that formed in the early Universe, connecting the Big Bang to our own Milky Way Galaxy.

Jason-1
Jason 1 is an oceanography mission to monitor global ocean circulation, study the ties between the oceans and atmosphere, improve global climate forecasts and predictions, and monitor events such as El Niño conditions and ocean eddies.

Jason-2
The Ocean Surface Topography Mission on the Jason-2 satellite (OSTM/Jason-2) will be a follow-on to the Jason-1 mission. It is scheduled to launch in June of 2008.

Jupiter Polar Orbiter (Juno)
Juno will fly to Jupiter and orbit its polar regions in order to understand the planet's gross size and structural properties, as well as measure Jupiter's atmospheric composition, temperature and deep wind profiles.

Keck Interferometer
The Keck Interferometer links two 10-meter (33-foot) telescopes on Mauna Kea in Hawaii. The linked telescopes form the world's most powerful optical telescope system.

Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA)
As the first dedicated space-based gravitational wave observatory, LISA will detect waves generated by binaries within our Galaxy, the Milky Way, and by massive black holes in distant galaxies.

Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO)
Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, scheduled for launch in 2008, will study the Moon's radiation environment, map the lunar topography in high-resolution, scan for resources in the polar regions and map the composition of the lunar surface.

Mars Exploration Rovers (MER)
NASA's twin robot geologists, the Mars Exploration Rovers, launched toward Mars on June 10 and July 7, 2003, in search of answers about the history of water on Mars.

Mars Express (MEX)
The main goal of Mars Express, launched in 2003, is to search for subsurface water from Mars orbit. Seven scientific instruments onboard the orbiting spacecraft will use remote sensing experiments to shed new light on the Martian atmosphere, the planet's

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO)
NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) launched in 2005 and is on a search for evidence that water persisted on the surface of Mars for a long period of time.

Mars Science Laboratory (MSL)
The Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission is scheduled to land a rover on Mars in 2010, with the goal of assessing the past and present habitability of the area it explores on Mars.

Marvel
The Mars Volcanic Emission and Life Scout, or MARVEL, would equip a Mars orbiter with two types of instruments proven useful in studying Earth's atmosphere from Earth orbit—a solar occultation infrared spectrometer and a submillimeter spectrometer.

MATMOS
Profiles a broad range of atmospheric constituents down to the ppt level. Provides particle composition, size, & vertical temperature profiles. Based on ATMOS flown 4 times on Shuttle.

Microwave Instrument for the Rosetta Orbiter (MIRO)
MIRO (Microwave Instrument for the Rosetta Orbiter) is a scientific instrument on the ROSETTA Spacecraft that will measure temperatures and abundances of asteroids and comets.

Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS)
The Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) experiments on the UARS and Aura satellites measure microwave thermal emission from the limb (edge) of Earth's atmosphere to remotely sense vertical profiles of atmospheric chemical composition, temperature, pressure, and

Multi-Angle Imaging Spectro-Radiometer (MISR)
The Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) instrument provides a unique opportunity for studying the ecology and climate of Earth through the acquisition of global multiangle imagery on the daylit side of Earth.

Multiangle Spectropolarimetric Imager (MSPI)
Under development to provide high-accuracy 3-dimensional aerosol distribution and help assess aerosol impact on weather, storm formation, climate, and human health. (Instrument Incubator Program camera housing shown.)

NPP Sounding Evaluation (PEATE)
The National Polar-Orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS) Preparatory Project (NPP) mission collects and distributes remotely-sensed land, ocean, and atmospheric data to the meteorological and global climate change communities.

Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO)

February 24, 2009
NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory satellite failed to reach orbit after its 1:55 a.m. PST liftoff Tuesday from California's Vandenberg Air Force Base.

Phoenix
The Phoenix Mars Mission, launched in August 2007, is specifically designed to measure volatiles (especially water) and complex organic molecules in the arctic plains of Mars.

Physical Oceanography Data Archive (PO.DAAC)
The Physical Oceanography Distributed Active Archive Center is responsible for archiving and distributing data relevant to the physical state of the ocean.

Planck
Planck is the first European mission to study the birth of the Universe. Expected launch date for Planck: 31st July 2008. Planck is a space-based telescope to study the cosmic microwave background.

Planetary Data System (PDS) Engineering Node
The Node provides systems support to PDS, handling standards, technology investigations, coordination & development of system-wide software, coordination of data ordering and distribution, and catalog development, implementation & maintenance.

Planetary Data System (PDS) Imaging Node
As curator of NASA's primary digital image collections from past, present and future planetary missions, the Node provides the digital image archives, ancillary data sets, software tools, and technical expertise.

SAC-C
Developed through the partnership of its senior partners, CONAE and NASA with contributions from Brazil, Denmark, France, and Italy, SAC-C will provide multispectral imaging of terrestrial and coastal environments. The spacecraft will study the structure.

Solar System Visualization (SSV)
The Solar System Visualization Project develops new science algorithms, visualization technologies, images, mosaics, and animations. The team has pioneered the use of HDTV and IMAX film technologies for science visualizations.

Space Interferometry Mission (SIM)
The Space Interferometry Mission will be the most powerful planet-hunting space telescope ever devised using two separated mirrors and combining their light with a technique known as interferometry.

Space Technology 8 (ST8)
As a mission of NASA's New Millennium Program, Space Technology 8 will space validate four new subsystem-level technologies. Each of these technologies was selected for its promise in advancing NASA's most important future science missions.

Spitzer Space Telescope (SST)
The Spitzer Space Telescope has unprecedented infrared sensitivity that will allow astronomers to study the most distant, coldese, and most dust-obscured objects and processes in the universe.

ST7 - DRS
The Disturbance Reduction System will enable spacecraft control with the nanometer precision required by future separated-spacecraft interferometer missions.

STEREO - SECCHI
The Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory launched in 2006 will employ two nearly identical space-based observatories to provide the first-ever, 3-D stereoscopic images to study the nature of coronal mass ejections.

Technology
Technology development encompasses many subject areas, with the overall goal being to demonstrate new designs and capabilities for instruments of the future.

Terrestrial Planet Finder Coronagraph (TPF-C)
The Terrestrial Planet Finder Coronagraph (TPF-C) will search for habitable worlds around nearby stars and look for indicators of the presence of life. TPF-C works in the visible wavelengths.

Terrestrial Planet Finder Interferometer (TPF-I)
The Terrestrial Planet Finder Interferometer (TPF-I) will search for habitable worlds around nearby stars and look for indicators of the presence of life. TPF-I works in the infrared wavelengths.

TOPEX/Poseidon
JPL's Seasat mission established that a satellite could use radar pulses to measure its altitude from Earth's surface. Taken over the world's oceans, these measurements could provide a high-fidelity view of the changing heights of the seas.

Tropical Cloud Systems and Processes (TCSP)
The Tropical Cloud Systems and Processes (TCSP) mission is an Earth science field research investigation sponsored by the Science Mission Directorate of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer (TES)
TES (Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer) is one of four science instruments aboard NASA's Aura satellite, which was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California on July 15, 2004.

Vehicle Cabin Atmosphere Monitor (VCAM)
VCAM, made up of a gas chromatograph and a mass spectrometer, will monitor the air in the International Space Station for trace amounts of organic molecules.

Vesper
Vesper, the Latin name for "Evening Star" or Venus, is a proposed NASA Discovery-class mission that would increase our knowledge of what the planet's atmosphere is made of and how it changes.

Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2)
The Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 was installed on the Hubble telescope by spacewalking astronauts on a space shuttle mission launched on December 2, 1993.

Wide Field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE)
WISE is a project that will provide a vast storehouse of knowledge about the solar system, the Milky Way, and the Universe. Among the objects WISE will study are asteroids, the coolest and dimmest stars, and the most luminous galaxies.

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