NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory installs LSST camera on telescope
Using the largest digital camera in the world, Rubin Observatory will soon be ready to capture more data than any other observatory in history
DOE/US Department of Energy
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The NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory team installing the LSST Camera on the Simonyi Survey Telescope in March 2025.
view moreCredit: Image courtesy of RubinObs/NOIRLab/SLAC/NSF/DOE/AURA/B. Quint
NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory, funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science, has achieved a major milestone with the installation of the LSST Camera on the telescope. With the final optical component in place, Rubin enters the last phase of testing before capturing long-awaited and highly-anticipated First Look images, followed by the start of the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST).
In early March, the NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory team on Cerro Pachón in Chile lifted the car-sized LSST Camera into position on the Simonyi Survey Telescope. This milestone is a significant step forward in the decades-long story of the LSST Camera's design, construction, and transport to Chile.
Rubin Observatory is jointly funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science. Rubin is a joint program of NSF NOIRLab and DOE’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, who will cooperatively operate Rubin.
“The installation of the LSST Camera on the telescope is a triumph of science and engineering,” said Harriet Kung, Acting Director of the Department of Energy’s Office of Science. “We look forward to seeing the unprecedented images this camera will produce.”
“This is the last major step in the construction of one of the most ambitious scientific facilities ever created,” said NSF Director Sethuraman Panchanathan. “It's a testament to the technical prowess and dedication of the entire NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory team — and the scientific community that has been striving to get to this point for over two decades.”
The LSST Camera was constructed at SLAC, incorporating cutting-edge technology to deliver an unprecedented view of the night sky.
“This is a pivotal moment for the teams from all around the world who collaborated to design and build the camera,” said Aaron Roodman, Director of the LSST Camera and Deputy Director of Rubin Construction from SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC). “We will achieve a level of clarity and depth never seen before in images covering the entire southern hemisphere sky.”
After the camera was completed in April 2024, the team transported it to Chile in a carefully coordinated effort to ensure its safe arrival at the Rubin Observatory.
“The installation of the LSST Camera is the result of years of meticulous planning and rigorous testing,” said Kevin Reil from SLAC, the System Integration Scientist for Rubin Observatory. “Every step was carefully orchestrated to ensure the camera is positioned with absolute precision. Now we’ll move forward with the final testing phase, bringing us closer than ever to Rubin’s first images.”
The LSST Camera is the largest digital camera ever built. Weighing over 3000 kilograms, the 3200-megapixel camera is at the center of Rubin Observatory’s optical system, which also features an 8.4-meter combined primary/tertiary mirror and a 3.5-meter secondary mirror. Rubin Observatory's innovative design enables it to simultaneously capture faint objects and objects that change in position or brightness within its wide field of view.
Using the LSST Camera, Rubin Observatory will repeatedly scan the southern night sky for a decade, creating an ultra-wide, ultra-high-definition time-lapse record of the Universe. This endeavor will bring the night sky to life, yielding a treasure trove of discoveries: asteroids and comets, pulsating stars, and supernova explosions, to name a few.
Rubin data will be used by researchers around the world, enabling groundbreaking scientific discoveries and advancements that will help us understand our Universe better, chronicle its evolution, delve into the mysteries of dark energy and dark matter, and reveal answers to questions we have yet to imagine.
Installing such a large, delicate piece of equipment was a complex, difficult task. In early March 2025, after months of testing in the clean room on the maintenance level of Rubin Observatory’s summit facility, the team on the summit used Rubin’s vertical platform lift to move the LSST Camera up to the telescope floor onto a transport cart. Following a carefully planned procedure, the team then used a custom lifting device to carefully position and secure the LSST Camera on the telescope for the first time.
“Mounting the LSST Camera onto the Simonyi Telescope was an effort requiring intense planning, teamwork across the entire observatory and millimeter-precision execution,” said Freddy Muñoz, Rubin Observatory Mechanical Group Lead. “Watching the LSST Camera take its place on the telescope is a proud moment for us all.”
Sandra Romero, Head of Safety for Rubin Observatory, added, “Ensuring the safety of our team during this installation was our highest priority. This complex operation was executed with careful planning and adherence to safety protocols, demonstrating the professionalism and commitment of the entire international Rubin team.”
The LSST Camera utilities and other systems will be connected and tested over the coming weeks. Soon the camera will be ready to start taking detailed images of the night sky, each one so large it would take a wall of 400 ultra-high-definition TV screens to display. This will culminate in a ‘First Look’ event when images from the completed Rubin Observatory will be shared with the world for the first time.
Travis Lange, LSST Camera Project Manager from SLAC, said, “It has been a treat to watch the biggest camera the world has ever seen being built by such a talented group of people with such a wide range of backgrounds. It’s a wonderful example of what teams of scientists and engineers can accomplish when they are called upon to do what has never been done before.”
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NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory, funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science, is a groundbreaking new astronomy and astrophysics observatory under construction on Cerro Pachón in Chile, with first light expected in mid-2025. It is named after astronomer Vera Rubin, who provided the first convincing evidence for the existence of dark matter. Using the largest camera ever built, Rubin will repeatedly scan the sky for 10 years and create an ultra-wide, ultra-high-definition, time-lapse record of our Universe.
NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory is a joint initiative of the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) and the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science (DOE/SC). Its primary mission is to carry out the Legacy Survey of Space and Time, providing an unprecedented data set for scientific research supported by both agencies. Rubin is operated jointly by NSF NOIRLab and SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. NSF NOIRLab is managed by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA) and SLAC is operated by Stanford University for the DOE. France provides key support to the construction and operations of Rubin Observatory through contributions from CNRS Nucléaire & Particules. Rubin Observatory is privileged to conduct research in Chile and gratefully acknowledges additional contributions from more than 40 international organizations and teams across 28 countries.
The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent federal agency created by Congress in 1950 to promote the progress of science. NSF supports basic research and people to create knowledge that transforms the future.
The DOE’s Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time.
NSF NOIRLab, the U.S. National Science Foundation center for ground-based optical-infrared astronomy, operates the International Gemini Observatory (a facility of NSF, NRC–Canada, ANID–Chile, MCTIC–Brazil, MINCyT–Argentina, and KASI–Republic of Korea), NSF Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO), NSF Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO), the Community Science and Data Center (CSDC), and NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory (in cooperation with DOE’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory). It is managed by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA) under a cooperative agreement with NSF and is headquartered in Tucson, Arizona.
The scientific community is honored to have the opportunity to conduct astronomical research on I’oligam Du’ag (Kitt Peak) in Arizona, on Maunakea in Hawai‘i, and on Cerro Tololo and Cerro Pachón in Chile. We recognize and acknowledge the very significant cultural role and reverence of I’oligam Du’ag to the Tohono O’odham Nation, and Maunakea to the Kanaka Maoli (Native Hawaiians) community.
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory explores how the universe works at the biggest, smallest and fastest scales and invents powerful tools used by researchers around the globe. As world leaders in ultrafast science and bold explorers of the physics of the universe, we forge new ground in understanding our origins and building a healthier and more sustainable future. Our discovery and innovation help develop new materials and chemical processes and open unprecedented views of the cosmos and life’s most delicate machinery. Building on more than 60 years of visionary research, we help shape the future by advancing areas such as quantum technology, scientific computing and the development of next-generation accelerators. SLAC is operated by Stanford University for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science.
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SwRI receives $3 million NASA astrobiology grant to study microbial life in Alaska’s arctic sand dunes
Research aims to better understand how life may thrive in harsh environments on other worlds
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With a new NASA grant, Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) will identify and characterize life and its biosignatures in frozen sand dunes to offer insight into how microbial life could form. The portable instrument Astronaut Raman for In situ resource utilization and Astrobiology (ARIA), developed by SwRI’s Dr. Charity Phillips-Lander, uses Raman spectroscopy to examine the mineralogy of samples and identify organic compounds present.
view moreCredit: Southwest Research Institute
SAN ANTONIO — March 11, 2025 —Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) has received a three-year, $2,999,998 million grant from NASA to identify and characterize life and its biosignatures in frozen sand dunes in Alaska, under conditions similar to dune fields on early Mars and Saturn’s moon Titan. The Assessing Regional Reflectors of Astrobiology in Kobuk dunes for Interplanetary Science (ARRAKIS) project team, which includes researchers from Brigham Young University and the University of California—Davis, seek insight into how microbial life may thrive in extreme environments on other worlds by understanding the limits on and constraints affecting life in similar planetary analog environments on Earth.
“Basaltic and gypsum sand dunes on Mars and hydrocarbon sand dunes on Titan experience freezing temperatures. Understanding how frozen sands in Earth’s Arctic interact with and support microbial life can help us learn how to search for life in similar frozen conditions elsewhere in the solar system,” said SwRI Staff Scientist Dr. Cynthia Dinwiddie, the principal investigator of the project.
The researchers plan to study the Great Kobuk Sand Dunes in Alaska’s Kobuk Valley National Park to understand the lifeforms living in nutrient-poor sand dunes subject to extreme conditions typical of the Arctic. The 25 square miles of dunes freeze annually at their surface and may include a core of dry permafrost — sand with little or no moisture that remains frozen during the warm season.
“We’ve seen water perched in the near surface of the tallest dunes in Kobuk Valley,” Dinwiddie said. “Perched water occurs when an impermeable layer traps water above it, creating a separate reservoir perched above the regional groundwater aquifer. Water is essential to life on Earth, so SwRI is targeting this perched liquid water for several types of astrobiological analyses.
Water may be perched on an impermeable layer consisting of ice, carbonates or fine-grained material like clay, each of which may accumulate at the base of the actively freezing and thawing layer. Approximately 7% of this dune sand consists of carbonate grains, and exhumed carbonate layers have been observed on the surface of the low-lying areas between dunes.
The researchers will locate these deep, nutrient-poor but wet zones in the frozen sand dunes using near-surface geophysics and biogeophysics methods to pinpoint their depth-dependent search for life. The team will conduct research at the Great Kobuk Sand Dunes twice in 2025, both in the month of March and again in late summer, to observe how the changing seasons affect the activity levels of microbes living deep beneath the surface.
To accomplish this, the researchers will use Raman spectroscopy, which identifies covalently bonded compounds via a laser with a single wavelength of light. The portable instrument Astronaut Raman for In situ resource utilization and Astrobiology (ARIA), developed by SwRI’s Dr. Charity Phillips-Lander, uses Raman spectroscopy to examine the mineralogy of samples and identify organic compounds present. This technique helps determine the composition of samples and the presence of certain materials based on how the light wavelength shifts after interacting with a substance.
SwRI will also use gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) to identify and quantify organic compounds within samples from the dunes, and analytical techniques to measure the concentration of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and total DNA. Because ATP is present in all living organisms, its measurement can be used to assess cellular activity. Total DNA can be used as a rough proxy for biomass.
Life-detection space science missions will require multiple types of measurements like those the ARRAKIS team are using to provide confidence that a detected signal is related to present or past life. By performing these measurements on samples gathered from analogous environments on Earth, the team will provide critical insight into how to look for life in the subsurface of other planets and moons in our solar system, which will benefit future missions like the potential Mars Life Explorer mission that was prioritized in the most recent Planetary Science and Astrobiology Decadal Survey.
“While we don’t know much about lifeforms thriving deep inside frozen sand dunes, perched liquid water located high in these dunes that does not seasonally freeze provides a potential oasis for life in an arctic desert and could help us make useful inferences elsewhere,” Dinwiddie said. “Life finds a way, even in seemingly inhospitable places.”
For more information, visit https://www.swri.org/markets/earth-space/earth-science
The Great Kobuk Sand Dunes encompass 25 squares miles in Alaska’s Kobuk Valley National Park. With a new NASA grant, Southwest Research Institute will identify and characterize life and its biosignatures in frozen sand dunes to offer insight into how microbial life could form in similarly harsh environments on other worlds.
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Southwest Research Institute
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