The ''Solar and Space Physics Decadal Survey'' is a publication of the National Research Council produced for

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 ...

, as well as other US government agencies such as

NOAA The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA ) is an American scientific and regulatory agency charged with forecasting weather, monitoring oceanic and atmospheric conditions, charting the seas, conducting deep-sea exploratio ...

and the

National Science Foundation The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) is an Independent agencies of the United States government#Examples of independent agencies, independent agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that su ...

. It is produced with the purpose of identifying a recommended scientific strategy in the field of

heliophysics Heliophysics (from the prefix "wikt:helio-, helio", from Attic Greek ''hḗlios'', meaning Sun, and the noun "physics": the science of matter and energy and their interactions) is the physics of the Sun and its connection with the Solar System. ...

for the following decade. Agencies such as NASA utilize the decadal survey in order to prioritize funding for specific missions or scientific research projects. As of 2024, two decadal surveys have been published. The first, "The Sun to the Earth — and Beyond: A Decadal Research Strategy in Solar and Space Physics" was published in 2003 for the period 2003-2012. The second, "Solar and Space Physics: A Science for a Technological Society" was released in 2013 for the period 2013-2022. A third decadal survey, "The Next Decade of Discovery in Solar and Space Physics", covering the period 2024-2033, is nearing the end of production and is planned to be released in early winter 2024.

2003-2012, ''The Sun to the Earth — and Beyond''

"The Sun to the Earth — and Beyond: A Decadal Research Strategy in Solar and Space Physics" was released in 2003. The committee was chaired by Louis J. Lanzerotti of

Lucent Technologies Lucent Technologies, Inc. was an American Multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications equipment company headquartered in Murray Hill, New Jersey, Murray Hill, New Jersey. It was established on September 30, 1996, through the div ...

. The highest priority recommendation named in the report was the Solar Probe mission, intended to explore the explore the inner regions around the

Sun The Sun is the star at the centre of the Solar System. It is a massive, nearly perfect sphere of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core, radiating the energy from its surface mainly as visible light a ...

. It also recommended the development of the

Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission The Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) Mission is a NASA robotic space mission to study the Earth's magnetosphere, using four identical spacecraft flying in a tetrahedral formation. The spacecraft were launched on 13 March 2015 at 02:44 UTC. Th ...

and of a Jupiter Polar Orbiter.National Research Council (2003). ''The Sun to the Earth -- and Beyond: A Decadal Research Strategy in Solar and Space Physics''. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/10477.

2013-2022, ''A Science for a Technological Society''

"Solar and Space Physics: A Science for a Technological Society" was released in August 2012.National Research Council (2013). ''Solar and Space Physics: A Science for a Technological Society.'' Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/13060. The committee was chaired by Daniel N. Baker of the

University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: the University of Colorado Boulder, the University of Colorado Colorado Springs, the University of Colorado Denver, and the U ...

. It laid out four key science goals: establishing the origins of

solar activity Solar phenomena are natural phenomena which occur within the Stellar atmosphere, atmosphere of the Sun. They take many forms, including solar wind, Solar radio emission, radio wave flux, solar flares, coronal mass ejections, Stellar corona#Coron ...

, gaining a deeper understanding of

Earth's magnetic field Earth's magnetic field, also known as the geomagnetic field, is the magnetic field that extends from structure of Earth, Earth's interior out into space, where it interacts with the solar wind, a stream of charged particles emanating from ...

, exploring the Sun's interactions with 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 ...

and

interstellar medium The interstellar medium (ISM) is the matter and radiation that exists in the outer space, space between the star systems in a galaxy. This matter includes gas in ionic, atomic, and molecular form, as well as cosmic dust, dust and cosmic rays. It f ...

, and characterizing the fundamental processes of the

heliosphere The heliosphere is the magnetosphere, astrosphere, and outermost atmospheric layer of the Sun. It takes the shape of a vast, tailed bubble-like region of space. In plasma physics terms, it is the cavity formed by the Sun in the surrounding ...

. The top priorities recommended to NASA were the restoration of the Medium-Class Explorers program, continuation of the Living With a Star and Solar Terrestrial Probes programs, and continued development of the Solar Probe Plus mission and the Geospace Dynamics Constellation as part of LWaS.

2024-2033, ''The Next Decade of Discovery in Solar and Space Physics''

A pre-publication copy of ''The Next Decade of Discovery in Solar and Space Physics'' was released in December 2024. The committee was chaired by Stephen A. Fuselier of the

Southwest Research Institute Southwest Research Institute (SwRI), headquartered in San Antonio, Texas, is an independent and nonprofit applied research and development (R&D) organization. Founded in 1947 by oil businessman Tom Slick, it provides contract research and deve ...

and Robyn Millan of

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College ( ) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, Dartmouth is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the America ...

. Rather than articulate specific goals, the document was intended to cover a wider, more diverse array of science and space weather research based around six interconnected themes similar to the previous Decadal Survey. The new Survey recommended that

establish a new ground-based space weather research office, that the NSF increase workforce support initiatives and investment in research infrastructure including

CubeSat A CubeSat is a class of small satellite with a form factor of cubes. CubeSats have a mass of no more than per unit,, url=https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5418c831e4b0fa4ecac1bacd/t/5f24997b6deea10cc52bb016/1596234122437/CDS+REV14+2020-07-3 ...

s, and that NASA fund two new flagship missions, the Links constellation to study Earth's magnetosphere from more than two dozen positions, and the Solar Polar Orbiter mission to fully succeed '' Ulysses'' and the

Parker Solar Probe The Parker Solar Probe (PSP; previously Solar Probe, Solar Probe Plus or Solar Probe+) is a NASA space probe launched in 2018 to make observations of the Stellar corona, Sun's outer corona. It used repeated Gravity assist, gravity assists from ...

, in addition to continuing the Geospace Dynamics Constellation's development.

References

{{reflist NASA Astronomical surveys Decadal science surveys

2003-2012, ''The Sun to the Earth — and Beyond''

2013-2022, ''A Science for a Technological Society''

2024-2033, ''The Next Decade of Discovery in Solar and Space Physics''

See also

References