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18-447: NSSDCA supports active space physics and astrophysics researchers. Web-based services allow the NSSDCA to support the general public. This support is in the form of information about spacecraft and access to digital versions of selected imagery. NSSDCA also provides access to portions of their database contains information about data archived at NSSDCA (and, in some cases, other facilities),

36-461: A detailed study of the declination near London by watchmaker George Graham resulted in the discovery of irregular magnetic fluctuations that we now call magnetic storms, so named by Alexander Von Humboldt . Gauss and William Weber made very careful measurements of Earth's magnetic field which showed systematic variations and random fluctuations. This suggested that the Earth was not an isolated body, but

54-462: A height around 110 km. Geiger counters on board the second Soviet satellite, Sputnik 2 , and the first US satellite, Explorer 1 , detected the Earth's radiation belts, later named the Van Allen belts . The boundary between the Earth's magnetic field and interplanetary space was studied by Explorer 10 . Future space craft would travel outside Earth orbit and study the composition and structure of

72-428: A map of the "isochasms" or lines of constant magnetic field. In the late 1870s, Henri Becquerel offered the first physical explanation for the statistical correlations that had been recorded: sunspots must be a source of fast protons. They are guided to the poles by the Earth's magnetic field. In the early twentieth century, these ideas led Kristian Birkeland to build a terrella , or laboratory device which simulates

90-702: Is often differentiated from space plasma , which typically refers to the plasma of the Sun , the solar wind , and the ionospheres and magnetospheres of the Earth and other planets. Plasmas in stars can both generate and interact with magnetic fields , resulting in a variety of dynamic astrophysical phenomena. These phenomena are sometimes observed in spectra due to the Zeeman effect . Other forms of astrophysical plasmas can be influenced by preexisting weak magnetic fields, whose interactions may only be determined directly by polarimetry or other indirect methods. In particular,

108-849: Is studied as part of astrophysics and is commonly observed in space. The accepted view of scientists is that much of the baryonic matter in the universe exists in this state. When matter becomes sufficiently hot and energetic, it becomes ionized and forms a plasma. This process breaks matter into its constituent particles which includes negatively charged electrons and positively charged ions . These electrically charged particles are susceptible to influences by local electromagnetic fields . This includes strong fields generated by stars , and weak fields which exist in star forming regions , in interstellar space, and in intergalactic space. Similarly, electric fields are observed in some stellar astrophysical phenomena, but they are inconsequential in very low-density gaseous media. Astrophysical plasma

126-461: Is studied using direct in situ measurements by sounding rockets and spacecraft, indirect remote sensing of electromagnetic radiation produced by the plasmas, and theoretical magnetohydrodynamics . Closely related fields include plasma physics , which studies more fundamental physics and artificial plasmas; atmospheric physics , which investigates lower levels of Earth's atmosphere; and astrophysical plasmas , which are natural plasmas beyond

144-573: The National Aeronautics and Space Administration . Space physics Space physics , also known as space plasma physics , is the study of naturally occurring plasmas within Earth's upper atmosphere and the rest of the Solar System . It includes the topics of aeronomy , aurorae , planetary ionospheres and magnetospheres , radiation belts , and space weather (collectively known as solar-terrestrial physics ). It also encompasses

162-454: The intergalactic medium , the interstellar medium , the interplanetary medium and solar winds consist of diffuse plasmas. Scientists are interested in active galactic nuclei because such astrophysical plasmas could be directly related to the plasmas studied in laboratories. Many of these phenomena seemingly exhibit an array of complex magnetohydrodynamic behaviors, such as turbulence and instabilities . In Big Bang cosmology ,

180-406: The Earth's magnetic field in a vacuum chamber, and which uses a cathode ray tube to simulate the energetic particles which compose the solar wind. A theory began to be formulated about the interaction between the Earth's magnetic field and the solar wind. Space physics began in earnest with the first in situ measurements in the early 1950s, when a team led by Van Allen launched the first rockets to

198-668: The Solar System. Space physics can be traced to the Chinese who discovered the principle of the compass , but did not understand how it worked. During the 16th century, in De Magnete , William Gilbert gave the first description of the Earth's magnetic field , showing that the Earth itself is a great magnet, which explained why a compass needle points north. Deviations of the compass needle magnetic declination were recorded on navigation charts, and

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216-563: The discipline of heliophysics , which studies the solar physics of the Sun , its solar wind , the coronal heating problem , solar energetic particles , and the heliosphere . Space physics is both a pure science and an applied science , with applications in radio transmission , spacecraft operations (particularly communications and weather satellites ), and in meteorology . Important physical processes in space physics include magnetic reconnection , synchrotron radiation , ring currents , Alfvén waves and plasma instabilities . It

234-491: The entire universe was in a plasma state prior to recombination . Norwegian explorer and physicist Kristian Birkeland predicted that space is filled with plasma . He wrote in 1913: It seems to be a natural consequence of our points of view to assume that the whole of space is filled with electrons and flying electric ions of all kinds. We have assumed that each stellar system through its evolution throws off electric corpuscles into space. Birkeland assumed that most of

252-487: The solar wind in much greater detail. These include WIND (spacecraft) , (1994), Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE), Ulysses , the Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) in 2008, and Parker Solar Probe . Other spacecraft would study the sun, such as STEREO and Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO). Astrophysical plasma Astrophysical plasma is plasma outside of the Solar System . It

270-768: The spacecraft which generate space science data and experiments which generate space science data. NSSDCA services also included are data management standards and technologies. NSSDCA is part of the Solar System Exploration Data Services Office (SSEDSO) in the Solar System Exploration Division at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center . NSSDCA is sponsored by the Heliophysics Division of NASA's Science Mission Directorate. NSSDCA acts in concert with various NASA discipline data systems in providing certain data and services. NSSDCA

288-453: Was first established (as NSSDC) at Goddard Space Flight Center in 1966. NSSDCA's staff consists largely of physical scientists, computer scientists, analysts, programmers, and data technicians. Staffing level, including civil service and onsite contractors, has ranged between 15 and 100 over the life of NSSDCA. Early in its life, NSSDCA accumulated data primarily on 7-track and 9-track tape and on various photoproducts, and all data dissemination

306-427: Was influenced by external forces – especially from the Sun and the appearance of sunspots . A relationship between individual aurora and accompanying geomagnetic disturbances was noticed by Anders Celsius and Olof Peter Hiorter in 1747. In 1860, Elias Loomis (1811–1889) showed that the highest incidence of aurora is seen inside an oval of 20 - 25 degrees around the magnetic pole. In 1881, Hermann Fritz published

324-578: Was via media replication and mailing. Starting in the mid-1980s, NSSDCA received and disseminated increasing data volumes via electronic networks. Dissemination formats are presently via the internet, either via HTTP or FTP. The NSSDC Master Catalog is available for the queries pertaining to information about data that are archived at the NSSDC as well as for supplemental information via the following query mechanisms: [REDACTED]  This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of

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