Space Science Directorate

Our space research activities focus principally on understanding the behavior of electrically charged particles (plasmas) and electromagnetic fields at the Sun, in planetary magnetospheres and interplanetary space, and at the heliosphere’s interface with the local interstellar medium. Our program extends from the Sun to the very edge of the solar system, where the outflow of electrically charged particles from the Sun (the solar wind) encounters the local interstellar medium.