Genesis
NASA’s Genesis spacecraft spent more than two years collecting samples of the solar wind. The spacecraft then brought the sample canister back to Earth where it parachuted to the ground. Despite a hard landing in the Utah desert, the Genesis samples were recovered.
Read MoreSolar MURI
Solar MURI was a collaborative project studying magnetic eruptions on the Sun and their effects on the Earth’s space environment. (“MURI” stands for Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative, a research program funded by DoD.) The aim of the project was to improve our ability to predict space weather from solar observations.
Read MoreCISM
The Center for Integrated Space weather Modeling (CISM) was an NSF-supported Science and Technology Center (STC). The goal of the center was to produce a coupled model of space weather, or the conditions in space between the Sun and the Earth related to solar activity.
Read MoreULYSSES
The joint ESA-NASA Ulysses mission made nearly three complete orbits of the Sun during more than 18 years in service.
Read MoreSTEREO
STEREO (Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory) was launched in 2006, employing two nearly identical space-based observatories – one ahead of Earth in its orbit, the other trailing behind – to provide the first-ever stereoscopic measurements to study the Sun and the nature of its coronal mass ejections, or CMEs. The STEREO Behind spacecraft was lost in…
Read MorePENGUIn
The Polar Experiment Network for Geospace Upper-atmosphere Investigations (PENGUIn) project involved measuring LF/MF/HF signals at ground level from remote sites in Antarctica. The primary scientific goal is to characterize natural emissions from the Earth’s aurora. Several types of emissions are known, but in some cases the physics of their generation and propagation are not understood.…
Read MorePSP/SWEAP
The Solar Wind Electrons Alphas and Protons (SWEAP) investigation is the set of instruments on the Parker Solar Probe (PSP) spacecraft that directly measure the properties of the plasma in the solar atmosphere.
Read MoreCURIE
NASA’s CubeSat Radio Interferometry Experiment (CURIE) investigated the unresolved origins of radio waves coming from the Sun.
Read MoreCGEM
The Coronal Global Evolutionary Model (CGEM) was a NASA/NSF funded Living With a Star Strategic Capability between UC Berkeley, Stanford University and Lockheed Martin Space and Astrophysics Laboratory. CGEM’s goal is to improve our understanding of the corona of the Sun — to develop and evaluate a model for the evolution of its magnetic field. The most…
Read MoreGRIPS-2
The Gamma Ray Imager/Polarimeter for Solar flares (GRIPS-2) is a high-altitude balloon payload designed to study particle acceleration and transport in impulsive solar-flares. It flew over Antarctica in January 2016 at a height of 130,000 ft, and the team is currently in the preparation phase for the second flight (scheduled for 2026). GRIPS-2 utilizes 16…
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