The Heliophysics Science Division (HSD) provides scientific leadership and expertise necessary to achieve NASA’s strategic science
goals in solar physics, heliospheric physics, geospace physics and space weather. It leads the definition and
development of missions in support of these goals and performs fundamental research into solar structure and magnetic
activity, the origins and acceleration of the solar wind, the effects of solar outbursts on the heliosphere, the
response of the coupled magnetosphere-ionosphere system at the Earth and other planets to solar variability
including solar irradiance. HSD’s scientists develop coupled models of the sun and its corona, the heliosphere,
geospace, and the high altitude environments of all of the planets, and they propose, develop and fly state-of-the-art
instrumentation for photon and neutral atom imaging, electric and magnetic field mapping, and plasma and energetic
charged particle measurements. HSD also designs and implements unique data systems that manage a wide range of
solar-terrestrial data and enable rapid access and analysis across mission and discipline boundaries for the
United States space science community. The scientists in the HSD interpret and evaluate data gathered from its
instruments, draw comparisons with computer simulations and theoretical models, and publish the results. HSD’s education
and outreach activities communicate the excitement and societal relevance of NASA’s operating and future Heliophysics missions.
- Explore the solar atmosphere and its interactions with the Earth.
- Lead the conception and development of solar and space physics missions.
- Communicate science progress to the public and inspire the next generation of scientists.
- How does the changing Sun affect the Earth, its environments, and its atmosphere, across all time
scales?
- How do terrestrial changes (such as geomagnetism) affect the solar wind interaction?
- How is the living Earth system affected by Earth's internal, surface and atmospheric dynamics?
- How does the changing Sun affect the heliosphere, including robotic and human heliospheric
explorers?
- Solar convection and magnetic activity
- Coronal disturbances and Solar Energetic Particle acceleration
- Heliospheric structure and dynamics
- Heliospheric interaction with cosmic rays and interstellar medium
- Magnetospheric coupling of the solar wind and geospace
- Magnetospheric meteorology
- Ionospheric response to solar energy inputs
- Integrated system science including atmospheric coupling.
- Spectral photon imagers
- Neutral atom imagers
- Magnetometers
- Electric field double probes
- Radio sounders
- Plasma velocity analyzers
| Operational : |
In Development : |
| ACE, Cassini, Cluster, IMAGE, Geotail, Messenger, Polar, RHESSI, SOHO, Stereo, TRACE, Ulysses, Voyager, Wind |
Solar-B, THEMIS, SDO, C/NOFS, MMS, IBEX, LRO, MMC, ITSP, RBSP, Solar Probe, Sentinels, MAO |
| With Solar System Exploration Division : |
With Exporation of the Universe Division : |
| Solar variability, solar mass ejections, solar wind, CME propagation, planetary magnetospheres, upper atmospheres, space weather |
Solar energetic particles and galactic cosmic rays |
