Space Sciences Laboratory

Not to be confused with Space Systems Laboratory or SSL (disambiguation).

37°52′49.08″N 122°14′38.68″W / 37.8803000°N 122.2440778°W / 37.8803000; -122.2440778

SSL logo

The Space Sciences Laboratory (SSL) is an Organized Research Unit (ORU) of the University of California, Berkeley.[1][2] Founded in 1959, the laboratory is located in the Berkeley Hills above the university campus.[2][3] It has developed and continues to develop many projects in the space sciences, including the search for extraterrestrial life (SETI@home).[4][5][6] The laboratory have built instruments to fly on more than 100 satellites and flown more than 150 balloons to "measure electric fields, auroral x-rays, hard x-rays and gamma rays, cosmic rays and the cosmic microwave background." The lab has also built and flown two dozen rockets to measure "auroral particles, UV emissions, and solar flare nuclei."[7] It currently has projects categorized into planetary projects, geospace projects, solar and heliophysics projects, astrophysics and exoplanets projects, which are accompanied by a missions operations system, an engineering division and an information lab.[8]

  1. ^ "About". Space Sciences Laboratory. 2020. Retrieved 16 March 2021.
  2. ^ a b "History". Space Sciences Laboratory. 2020. Retrieved 16 March 2021.
  3. ^ "Space Sciences Laboratory | Research UC Berkeley". vcresearch.berkeley.edu. 8 February 2021. Retrieved 16 March 2021.
  4. ^ "Berkeley SETI". seti.ssl.berkeley.edu. Retrieved 23 March 2019.
  5. ^ "SETI@home project celebrates 10th anniversary, though no ETs". phys.org. 19 May 2009. Retrieved 16 March 2021.
  6. ^ Kahney, Leander (22 December 2000). "Seti: Is Anybody Out There?". Wired (San Francisco, Calif.). Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved 16 March 2021.
  7. ^ "Vision Statement: History of SSL". Space Sciences Laboratory. Retrieved 16 April 2024.
  8. ^ "Our works". Space Sciences Laboratory. Retrieved 16 April 2024.