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75 Years of LASP: Missions Across the Cosmos
(LASP) is the university’s first and highest-budget research institute — and the only organization of its kind to have sent scientific instruments to every planet in our solar system, plus the sun and a host of moons.
Founded in 1948 as a collaboration between the U.S. Air Force and the university’s physics department, LASP’s initial experiments included launching instruments mounted on captured German V-2 rockets in order to study the sun. Today, over 75 years later, the institute is made up of more than 100 research scientists who specialize in designing, building and operating spacecraft and spacecraft instruments.
As LASP looks ahead to the next 75 years, its dedication to innovation keeps it at the leading edge of space science. Here are just a few of the many missions LASP has helped propel forward.
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Sun
2010–30
EVE onÌý examines variations in the sun’s extreme ultraviolet light over time.
- Mission Highlight: Recorded enormous solar 'tornadoes,' ultra-hot plasma plumes swirling above the sun’s surface.
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Mercury
2004–15
LASP Spectrometer onÌý first detected magnesium in Mercury’s exosphere.
- Mission Highlight: Confirmed the presence of ice deposits in permanently shadowed craters at Mercury’s poles.
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Venus
1978–92
Ultraviolet Spectrometer onÌý identified sulfur dioxide in the clouds, indicating potential volcanic activity.
- Mission Highlight: Pinpointed the highest point on Venus — Maxwell Montes stands 10.8 km high.
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Earth
Scheduled 2027
LASP radiometers on NASA will record how much energy leaves our planet’s atmosphere on a day-by-day basis, providing crucial information about how Earth’s climate is evolving over time.Ìý
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Moon
2013–14
Lunar Dust Experiment onÌý gathered and analyzed lunar dust particles.
- Mission Highlight: Revealed tiny meteoroids deliver water to the Moon’s exosphere.
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Mars
2013–14
Imaging Ultraviolet Spectrograph onÌý discovered an aurora caused by proton precipitation in Mars’ atmosphere.
- Mission Highlight: Determined that solar wind has significantly stripped Mars’ atmosphere, altering its climate from warm and wet to cold and dry.
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Jupiter
1989–2003
Ultraviolet Spectrometer onÌý observed the impacts of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 fragments on Jupiter.
- Mission Highlight: Found evidence of a subsurface ocean on Jupiter’s moon Europa.
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Saturn
1997–2017
Imaging Ultraviolet Spectrograph onÌý measured emissions from gases emitted by volcanoes on Jupiter’s moon Io.
- Mission Highlight: Detected an icy plume of salt-rich organic chemicals erupting from Saturn’s moon Enceladus.
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Uranus
1977–C³Ü°ù°ù±ð²Ô³Ù
Photopolarimeter Subsystem onÌý discovered Uranus’ rings are younger than the solar system.
- Mission Highlight: Identified an irregular magnetic field, highly tilted from Uranus’ spin axis.
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Neptune
1977–C³Ü°ù°ù±ð²Ô³Ù
Photopolarimeter Subsystem on found Neptune’s rings are incomplete circles created by dust knocked off tiny moons.
- Mission Highlight: Performed the first mission to fly past Neptune and detect its irregular magnetic field.Ìý
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Pluto
2006–C³Ü°ù°ù±ð²Ô³Ù
onÌý was the first student-designed instrument to launch on an interplanetary mission.
- Mission Highlight: Discovered the largest known glacier in the solar system.
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And beyond…
LASP has been involved in missions beyond our solar system, including operations for NASA’s exoplanet-hunting Kepler mission and the IXPE mission, which studies extreme space environments.
Images courtesy NASA