Brian
drbwalsh.bsky.social
Brian
@drbwalsh.bsky.social
Space science explorer and professor at Boston University. Space sensor builder
Power on! That small step function is the first power on in space of the COSSMo instrument from yesterday. The BU student-developed payload is on the Carruthers Geocoronal Observatory and will monitor the sun in UV and soft X-ray. #heliophysics
October 5, 2025 at 1:38 AM
A small experiment - over the past 2 months I saved all the junk mail I received, ~7.1 lbs. Projecting to the number of adults in the US, that’s 813 million pounds of unsolicited mail every month in the US
August 7, 2025 at 1:09 PM
SMILE spacecraft passed through thermal testing. A nice video of the progress by the ESA team
www.youtube.com/embed/8soC68...
YouTube
www.youtube.com
July 29, 2025 at 12:30 PM
Reposted by Brian
'NASA is under attack.' Space agency employees and lawmakers protest mass layoffs, science cuts amid budget turmoil - They're telling everyone to 'jump ship.'" By Josh Dinner at Space.com

Go to: www.space.com/space-explor...

Image credit: Josh Dinner
July 25, 2025 at 12:16 PM
This month marks 10 years teaching at @bostonu.bsky.social. It has been almost 1,000 energetic and curious Terrier students
July 24, 2025 at 3:29 PM
Motivating to be part of 450 US space scientists in Des Moines this week. My favorite line of the workshop “whether they know it or not, everyone in this country is becoming a space worker” in reference to the growing reliance of daily life on the space environment
June 27, 2025 at 7:28 PM
LEXI made it to lunar orbit. 2 weeks to landing and X-ray imaging
February 16, 2025 at 2:19 PM
One of the most exciting step-functions in electrical current I’ve seen. Lexi powering up successfully shortly after reaching orbit. ☀️
January 27, 2025 at 4:16 PM
And we’re up
January 15, 2025 at 1:25 PM
T-8 hrs to launch. Weather in FL is looking good
January 14, 2025 at 9:49 PM
T-less than a day to LEXI’s launch on the Blue Ghost. Weather in Florida is looking good
January 14, 2025 at 11:02 AM
In 1651 if you wanted to bash someone’s idea you wrote a book with a gorgeous art critique. It looks like Riccioli didnt like geocentrism

If there’s room you could also include one of the first maps of the moon defining many of the names we use today. Thanks to #bostonpubliclibrary for sharing
January 10, 2025 at 1:30 PM
T-8 days to LEXI's launch blogs.nasa.gov/artemis/2025...
NASA Science, Tech Launching to Moon in Mid-January – Artemis
blogs.nasa.gov
January 7, 2025 at 5:10 PM
Quickly approaching launch. Excitement is growing to image Earth's magnetosphere from space
science.nasa.gov/science-rese...
NASA’s LEXI Will Provide X-Ray Vision of Earth’s Magnetosphere - NASA Science
A NASA X-ray imager is heading to the Moon as part of NASA's Artemis campaign, where it will capture the first global images of the magnetic field that shields Earth from solar radiation.
science.nasa.gov
January 6, 2025 at 4:25 PM
de Magnete (1600) by Gilbert started magnetospheric physics. Earth is a magnet! When this was written this also resolved a debate of why compasses pointed north. Thanks to BPL Special Collections for sharing an original copy.

#heliophysics
December 20, 2024 at 4:35 PM
SMILE is on the move! Always impressive the logistics that go into shipping spacecraft
youtu.be/7aJTuJPGYy8?...
Smile's other half arrives | Let’s Smile (action snippet)
YouTube video by ESA Space Science Hub
youtu.be
December 13, 2024 at 1:42 PM
Two months out from launch! LEXI’s science mission ends when the sun and Earth are too close in the sky to image earths magnetic field without solar background. From LEXI and the moon, this is “new Earth.” From Earth’s perspective - a full moon. Graphic from @firefly-aerospace.bsky.social
November 27, 2024 at 3:34 PM
SMILE mission is coming together www.esa.int/ESA_Multimed...
November 15, 2024 at 11:13 AM
Back to Helsinki with the Vlasiator team for more sabbatical numerical simulations. I’ve been told February is still the “dark” part of the year here
February 27, 2024 at 11:59 AM
Print(‘hello, world’)
November 30, 2023 at 10:11 AM