NASA's SDO Captures a February Solar Flare Triple Play - NASA Goddard - heliophysics

Solar flares can disrupt communications and endanger astronauts with cosmic radiation.Cosmic radiation is emitted during solar events,including sunspots,solar flares,coronal mass ejections (CMEs) and proton storms,according to NASA.

NASA's Massive IMAP Mission

On 30 November 2023,NASA's Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP) successfully completed Key Decision Point D (KDP-D).This milestone allows the mission to move from development and design to assembly,testing and integration,NASA announced.As well,the launch date for the mission was moved from no sooner than February 2025,to a launch window of late April to late May 2025 to ensure the project team has adequate resources to address risks and technical complexities during system integration and testing.*IMAP is to fuction as a modern day cartographer and help us understand what happens when the solar wind,which is a constant stream of particles from the Sun,collides with materials from interstellar space.This will help researchers map the boundary of the heliosphere,the magnetic bubble created by the solar wind,and better understand how this bubble protects Earth from large amounts of harmful cosmic radiation (cosmic rays).Such radiation can threaten astronauts and technological systems.* The IMAP spacecraft is being built,and will be operated,by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel,Maryland.*The IMAP mission simaltaneously investigates two of the most important topics in Space Physics today-the acceleration of enrgetic particles and interaction of the solar wind with the interstellar medium.The mission is led by Principal Investigator Professor David McComas in the Space Physics at Princeton Group.The IMAP's 10 instruments provide the first comprehensive in-situ and remote global observations to discover the fundamental physical processes that control our solar system's evolving space environment.Among the Team's partners are NASA JPL-Caltech;Los Alamos National Laboratory;Imperial College London;Nagoya University,Japan;University of Central Lancashire;University of Bern,Switzerland;Massachussetts Institute of Technology;the Laboratory for Astrophysics and Space Physics,University of Colorado Boulder; and The University of Chicago.*Space Physics is defined as the study of natural phenomena that occur in our solar system.Specifically,the Sun,the particles and the radiation it creates,and how these affect the planets;the solar wind and its interaction with the Earth and near-Earth space (space weather).Another definition is that Space Physics is the study of plasmas as they occur naturally in the Earth's upper atmosphere (areonomy) and within the solar system.

NASA Hosts National Space Council Meeting, Vice President Chairs Event

NASA Hosts National Space Council Meeting, Vice President Chairs Event: Vice President Kamala Harris highlighted the importance of climate, human spaceflight, and STEM education during the Biden-Harris Administration’s second National Space Council meeting Friday, held at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.

X-37B: NASA Experiments Prepare for Mars Journey

On its current mission,launched on 17 May 2017 aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket, the US Space Force X-37B,a small, highly classified space plane,will deploy the US Air Force Academy's FalconSAT-8 satellite,used for technology demos and to train cadets in space operations.FalconSAT-8 also contains two NASA experiments related to the Journey to Mars.The studies will examine the effects of the harsh outer space environment, especially cosmic radiation,on materials samples and seeds.The Materials Exposure and Technology Innovation in Space (METIS) will expose a plate of quarter-sized materials samples to help spacecraft designers choose optimal materials for specific aerospace applications, such as thermal protection for antennas and other space hardware.Data from the samples testing will increase the lifespan and improve the operations of future spacecraft and systems needed for the Journey to Mars, NASA said.METIS took over from a previous ISS experiment, the Materials on ISS Experiment (MISSE),in 2015 aboard the X-37B.*
The new seeds experiment will evaluate the effects of ambient space radiation on seeds for food plants.This is crucial for deep space explorers who may need to grow some of their own food.The X-37B reportedly facilitates exposure to different radiation types than are possible on the ISS,which is locked in a particular orbit.*

Scientific Workshop:Lunar Orbital Ops Take Shape as Orion Program Progresses

The assembly of the Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway is slated to begin in 2022,NASA says,with the power and propulsion system being launched and placed in lunar orbit;to be followed by habitation,logistics and airlock capabilities,establishing the core functionalities of the new space station.
NASA will send one Orion crew a year to the LOP-G in its early years,requiring high levels of autonomy and /or teleoperations for its research projects.Robots could help maintain the station during both crewed and uncrewed periods.*
In a recent NASA workshop,scientists expressed their desires for research projects in cislunar space aboard the LOP-G.It yielded a basic understanding of the science that could be conducted from the cislunar vantage point,and the potential spacecraft resources required for it.More than 190 abstracts were received from scientists.Both scientists and engineers were invited to it to discuss future exploration on the LOP-G.
Being beyond Earth's magnetosphere on the LOP-G opens up a range of observational possibilities not otherwise available,in such fields as astrophysics,heliophysics and Earth science.As well,the deep space exposure to high energy radiation and space debris during solar system missions poses risks requiring study for understanding and mitigating the threats.
Inside,the scientists pointed out,the LOP-G could be fitted with instruments to evaluate radiation effects on electronics and other susceptible materials.Monitors could be activated during crew visits for evaluation of behavioural health;neurocognitive functions;and radiation and microgravity effects on crew.
Outside the LOP-G,materials research platforms that host interchangeable experiments with standardised attachments could be installed.In the course of Earth observations from the LOP-G,there are the opportunity to use Earth as a proxy for exoplanet detection,as well as regular views of polar regions.For heliophysics,solar activity characterisations are possible,and could improve our understanding of solar cycles and their effects on Earth,as well as possible risks to astronauts and spacecraft.Even at the Moon,it has to be remembered that the Apollo missions were of short duration,planned to avoid periods of intense solar activity,so any longer stay in cislunar space and beyond poses as yet unquantified risks.*
The LOP-G can be used to deploy increasingly capable CubeSats to conduct experiments.The LOP-G infrastructure can support nearby spacecraft servicing,wide aperature telescope assembly,and serve as a communications relay for large data returns to Earth from small probes or satellites in the lunar environment.
Robotically collected lunar samples could be investigated aboard the LOP-G,or preserved on it for their return to Earth;and astronauts on the LOP-G could remotely operate rovers on the surface to characterise lunar resources or venture to the unexplored lunar far side.*
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