How does UC Berkeley’s Space Sciences Laboratory lead @nasa missions like ESCAPADE? 🚀💫 Perched high in the hills above the UC Berkeley campus, the 67-year-old lab is one of only two university-based centers in the U.S. capable of managing the entire life cycle of a satellite mission. SSL currently controls nine spacecraft out of its Mission Operations Center. Over the course of the lab’s history, scientists and engineers — aided by hundreds of Berkeley students — have designed, built and operated instruments for more than 100 satellite projects to explore our solar system. The latest is ESCAPADE, consisting of two spacecraft — Blue and Gold — that will make their final pass close to Earth in early November, firing their engines toward Mars. Led by Rob Lillis, this mission is designed to study Mars's magnetic field and to better understand how and when the planet lost its atmosphere. What the scientists learn will also help plan future crewed missions to Mars. ESCAPADE will asses...