Heliophysics and Planetary Science Branch
The Heliophysics and Planetary Science Branch studies the coupled Sun-Earth system and the terrestrial planets and icy satellites of our solar system. Our heliophysics portfolio includes instrumentation development, sounding rocket flight, and research focusing on energy transfer across physical scales throughout the solar atmosphere. Our planetary science portfolio includes research on the origin, composition, and evolution of terrestrial planetary bodies, focusing on geological, geophysical, and related models, experiments, and observations conducted in the field, laboratory, and via analysis of remotely sensed data from space-based missions.
Heidi Haviland, Paul Bremner, Mike Zanetti (ST13), Aiden Woo (USRA) and Juan Lorenzo (LSU) participated in a joint geophysical instrument test at the Lunar Regolith Terrain Facility, 2/12-15/24, and is funded by a MSFC CAN-162 White Paper for technology development. …
HI-C Flare is part of a planned campaign that includes three solar physics payloads. The Hi-C instrument is optimized for detecting high temperature flare lines. In February, the Hi-C Flare White Sands Missile Range (WSMR) integration and testing was completed. …
HI-C Flare White Sands Missile Range Integration and Testing Completed Read More »
In January, the Science Test Branch (ST15) enabled a test of a LiDAR Engineering Unit for the On-orbit Servicing, Assembly, and Manufacturing 1 (OSAM-1). As perhaps the longest vacuum chamber available for use by experimenters, the X-ray & Cryogenic Facility’s …
LiDAR Testing at Marshall’s X-ray & Cryogenic Facility Read More »
Robert Loper (ST13) delivered a guest lecture, “Solar Storms and Flying to Mars: Space Weather Research at MSFC,” to Space Weather Laboratory class at the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT), in Dayton, OH, on 2/21/24. Loper also met with …
Guest Lecture at the Air Force Institute of Technology Read More »
The conference was held in Ahmedabad, India from 2/5-9/24. Alka Rani (ST13) delivered an oral presentation during the conference, elucidating the evolutionary dynamics of the Martian interior through surficial geochemical analyses of secular volcanism. The presentation, “Evolution of Martian Volcanism …
Presentations at the International Conference on Planets, Exoplanets, and Habitability Read More »