L2 News

space-exploration1 month ago•117 min saved

Roman Space Telescope Begins Commissioning at L2 After Falcon Heavy Launch

NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope has kicked off its mission commissioning at the sun–Earth L2 point after a Aug. 30 launch aboard SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy. The spacecraft has deployed its solar panels and high-gain antenna, and teams have begun powering on and calibrating the Coronagraph Instrument as the system checks continue, with first science operations expected to start after weeks of checkout and first images anticipated in January 2027 to study dark energy and discover exoplanets.

via Space|

#exoplanets #falcon-heavy #l2

science1 month ago•4 min saved

NASA's Roman Space Telescope kicks off three-month voyage to L2 with live-tracking

NASA launched the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope on Aug. 30, 2026, and a 100-day cruise to the L2 point is being tracked in near real time online. Mission controllers are conducting commissioning and a mid-course burn to fine‑tune its trajectory toward L2. Once in position, Roman will map billions of galaxies with a wide-field camera, returning about 1.4 terabytes of data daily over its five‑year prime mission, with first detailed images expected by December and surveys starting in January 2027.

via Mashable|

#commissioning #l2 #nasa

technology6 months ago•5 min saved

TransAstra outlines plan to bag and relocate an asteroid

TransAstra envisions a feasibility study to capture a ~100-ton near-Earth asteroid with a large inflatable bag, tow it to a nearby space processing hub (potentially at the Earth-Sun L2 point) to harvest water and minerals for in-space use, and build a robotic facility for materials processing. The plan would target up to 250 small asteroids (≤20 m) over the next decade, with a fully funded mission possible as early as 2028–2029. The project has tested a 1 m capture bag on the ISS, won NASA funding to scale to a 10 m bag, and is pursuing various spacecraft providers for rendezvous. Initial cost is described as a few hundred million dollars.

via Ars Technica|

#asteroid-capture #l2 #newmoon

science-and-technology3 years ago•2 min saved

Locating the James Webb Space Telescope.

The James Webb space telescope is located at the second Lagrange point (L2), which is 1.5 million kilometers from Earth. This location allows the telescope to safely orbit the Sun and avoid interference from bright objects while observing the universe using infrared light. The telescope's onboard hardware requires operational temperatures of minus 370 Fahrenheit, which is protected by the sun shield. Although being far from Earth makes maintenance difficult, the telescope is already providing valuable data about the early universe. Interested individuals can track the telescope's location in real-time through NASA's website.

via Yahoo News|

#astronomy #infrared-light #james-webb-space-telescope

science-and-technology3 years ago•2 min saved

Locating the James Webb Space Telescope.

The James Webb space telescope is located at the second Lagrange point (L2), which is 1.5 million kilometers from Earth. This location allows the telescope to safely orbit the Sun and avoid interference from bright objects while observing the universe using infrared light. The telescope's onboard hardware requires operational temperatures of minus 370 Fahrenheit, which is protected by the sun shield. Although being far from Earth makes maintenance difficult, the telescope is already providing valuable data about the early universe. Interested individuals can track the telescope's location in real-time through NASA's website.

via Yahoo Entertainment|

#astronomy #infrared-light #james-webb-space-telescope