NASA's Solar Terrestrial Probes program (STP) is a series of missions focused on studying the Sun-Earth system. It is part of

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

's Heliophysics Science Division within the

Science Mission Directorate The Science Mission Directorate (SMD) of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is one of the six directorates that constitute NASA. Its responsibility is to define and direct research into scientific questions of interest, shari ...

Objectives

*Understand the fundamental physical processes of the complex space environment throughout the

Solar System The Solar SystemCapitalization of the name varies. The International Astronomical Union, the authoritative body regarding astronomical nomenclature, specifies capitalizing the names of all individual astronomical objects but uses mixed "Sola ...

, which includes the flow of energy and charged material, known as plasma, as well as a dynamic system of magnetic and electric fields. *Understand how human society, technological systems, and the habitability of planets are affected by solar variability and planetary magnetic fields. *Develop the capability to predict the extreme and dynamic conditions in space in order to maximize the safety and productivity of human and robotic explorers.

Missions

TIMED

The TIMED (Thermosphere Ionosphere Mesosphere Energetics and Dynamics) is an orbiter mission dedicated to study the dynamics of the

Mesosphere The mesosphere (; ) is the third layer of the atmosphere, directly above the stratosphere and directly below the thermosphere. In the mesosphere, temperature decreases as altitude increases. This characteristic is used to define limits: it be ...

and Lower

Thermosphere The thermosphere is the layer in the Earth's atmosphere directly above the mesosphere and below the exosphere. Within this layer of the atmosphere, ultraviolet radiation causes photoionization/photodissociation of molecules, creating ions; the ...

(MLT) portion of the

Earth's atmosphere The atmosphere of Earth is composed of a layer of gas mixture that surrounds the Earth's planetary surface (both lands and oceans), known collectively as air, with variable quantities of suspended aerosols and particulates (which create weathe ...

. The mission was launched from

Vandenberg Air Force Base Vandenberg may refer to: * Vandenberg (surname), including a list of people with the name * USNS ''General Hoyt S. Vandenberg'' (T-AGM-10), transport ship in the United States Navy, sank as an artificial reef in Key West, Florida * Vandenberg S ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

on December 7, 2001 aboard a Delta II rocket launch vehicle.

Hinode

Hinode, an ongoing collaboration with

JAXA The is the Japanese national air and space agency. Through the merger of three previously independent organizations, JAXA was formed on 1 October 2003. JAXA is responsible for research, technology development and launch of satellites into o ...

, is a mission to explore the magnetic fields of the Sun. It was launched on the final flight of the M-V-7 rocket from

Uchinoura Space Center The is a space launch facility in the Japanese town of Kimotsuki, Kagoshima Prefecture. Before the establishment of the JAXA space agency in 2003, it was simply called the (KSC). All of Japan's scientific satellites were launched from Uchino ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

on September 22, 2006.

STEREO

STEREO (Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory) is a

solar Solar may refer to: Astronomy * Of or relating to the Sun ** Solar telescope, a special purpose telescope used to observe the Sun ** A device that utilizes solar energy (e.g. "solar panels") ** Solar calendar, a calendar whose dates indicate t ...

observation mission. It consists in two nearly identical spacecraft, launched on October 26, 2006.

MMS

The Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission (MMS) is a mission to study the

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to Planetary habitability, harbor life. This is enabled by Earth being an ocean world, the only one in the Solar System sustaining liquid surface water. Almost all ...

magnetosphere In astronomy and planetary science, a magnetosphere is a region of space surrounding an astronomical object in which charged particles are affected by that object's magnetic field. It is created by a celestial body with an active interior Dynamo ...

, using four identical spacecraft flying in a

tetrahedral In geometry, a tetrahedron (: tetrahedra or tetrahedrons), also known as a triangular pyramid, is a polyhedron composed of four triangular Face (geometry), faces, six straight Edge (geometry), edges, and four vertex (geometry), vertices. The tet ...

formation. The spacecraft were launched on March 13, 2015.

IMAP

IMAP (Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe) is a heliosphere observation mission. Planned for launch in 2025, it will sample, analyze, and map particles streaming to Earth from the edges of interstellar space.

References

External links

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center - Solar Terrestrial Probes ProgramNASA Science Mission Directorate - Solar Terrestrial Probes Program
NASA programs Space plasmas Space science experiments {{US-spacecraft-stub