Latest Heliophysics Stories

NASA will begin development and testing of two science instruments, in cooperation with the European Space Agency (ESA), to be placed on ESA's newly selected Solar Orbiter mission. The spacecraft will study the sun from a closer distance than any previous mission. At its closest approach, the European-led project will operate approximately 21 million miles from the sun's surface, near the orbit of Mercury, roughly 25 percent of the distance from the sun to the Earth. This unique vantage...

Ed Weiler, who has worked almost 33 years as a leader in NASA's science exploration programs, will retire from the agency effective Sept. 30. Weiler most recently served as the associate administrator of NASA's Science Mission Directorate at agency Headquarters in Washington, directing a variety of research and science programs in Earth science, heliophysics, planetary science and astrophysics. Chuck Gay, the directorate’s deputy associate administrator, will become the acting associate...

NASA will host a media teleconference at 1 p.m. EDT on Thursday, June 9, to discuss a new computer model that shows the edge of our solar system is not smooth, but filled with a turbulent sea of magnetic bubbles.Based on Voyager data, the finding suggests we need to revise our picture of this previously unexplored region so critical for understanding how cosmic rays are created and reach near-Earth space. Galactic cosmic rays are of concern for human space travel, in particular during the...

GREEBELT, Md., May 3, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- NASA has awarded a Cooperative Agreement to the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC), Baltimore, Md., to establish a science center for collaborative research in Solar-Planetary Sciences at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20081007/38461LOGO) The total value of the agreement is estimated at $9,999,442, for the period of May 9, 2011 through May 8, 2016, with the ability...

GREENBELT, Md., May 2, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- NASA has awarded a Cooperative Agreement to the Catholic University of America (CUA) to establish a science center for collaborative research in Solar-Heliospheric Sciences at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20081007/38461LOGO) The total value of the agreement is estimated at $8,542,928, for the period of May 9, 2011 through May 8, 2016, with the ability to extend for an...

By Dr. Tony Phillips - Science@NASAIf you've ever stood in front of a hot stove, watching a pot of water and waiting impatiently for it to boil, you know what it feels like to be a solar physicist.Back in 2008, the solar cycle plunged into the deepest minimum in nearly a century. Sunspots all but vanished, solar flares subsided, and the sun was eerily quiet."Ever since, we've been waiting for solar activity to pick up," says Richard Fisher, head of the Heliophysics Division at NASA...

WASHINGTON, March 2, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- NASA-sponsored research has resulted in the first computer model that explains the recent period of decreased solar activity during the sun's 11-year cycle. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20081007/38461LOGO) This recent solar minimum, a period characterized by a lower frequency of sunspots and solar storms, was the deepest observed in almost 100 years. The solar minimum has repercussions on the safety of space travel and the...

NASA has rescheduled a media teleconference for 2 p.m. EST on Wednesday, March 2, to discuss the first computer model that explains the recent period of decreased solar activity during the sun's 11-year cycle. The recent solar minimum, a period characterized by a lower frequency of sunspots and solar storms, ended in 2008 and was the deepest observed in almost 100 years.The teleconference panelists are:-- Richard Fisher, director, Heliophysics Division, Science Mission Directorate, NASA...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 28, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- NASA will host a media teleconference at 1 p.m. EST on Thursday, March 3, to discuss the first computer model that explains the recent period of decreased solar activity during the sun's 11-year cycle. The recent solar minimum, a period characterized by a lower frequency of sunspots and solar storms, ended in 2008 and was the deepest observed in almost 100 years. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20081007/38461LOGO) The...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 30 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- New data from NASA's Interstellar Boundary Explorer, or IBEX, spacecraft, reveal that conditions at the edge of our solar system may be much more dynamic than previously thought. Future exploration missions will benefit in design and mission objectives from a better understanding of the changing conditions in this outer region of our solar system.(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20081007/38461LOGO)(Logo:...