NASA selected a mission concept to research how space weather and dynamics within Earth’s atmosphere influence the space environment and help improve prediction capabilities for impacts on crucial technology, such as GPS and low Earth orbit satellites, as well as astronauts in space.

The DAPHNE (Dynamic Atmosphere-Ionosphere Explorer) mission will enter Phase B of development, which includes planning and design for flight and mission operations. It will use identical twin satellites to study how changes in Earth’s lower atmosphere influence our planet’s upper atmosphere, where space weather is manifested.

“NASA is advancing the United States’ leadership as a space weather-ready nation, and by providing new insights into Earth’s atmosphere we can better predict and prepare for impacts in our daily lives on Earth and in space,” said Nicky Fox, associate administrator, Science Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters in Washington. “As NASA sends astronauts beyond Earth’s magnetic protection to the Moon, Mars, and beyond, DAPHNE will join the NASA science fleet strategically located across the solar system to provide data that will help mission planners predict and mitigate the effects of space weather for the benefit of all.”

The DAPHNE mission’s low-risk high-return concept will provide coordinated, multi-point measurements of neutral winds, temperature, and composition in the thermosphere. The ionosphere and thermosphere regions are where Earth’s neutral atmosphere transitions into the ionized plasma of space. In this thin shell that surrounds the planet, the atmosphere is in constant motion, shaped by the influence of solar activity and changes in the lower atmosphere and in near-Earth space.

Fundamental observations and physical insights from the DAPHNE mission will incorporate lower-atmospheric energy data to advance space weather predictive capabilities. The mission is led by Aimee Merkel from the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado, Boulder.

The mission will be subject to a confirmation review in 2027, which will assess the progress of the mission and the availability of funds. If confirmed, the total estimated cost of the mission, excluding launch, will not exceed $250 million in fiscal year 2023 dollars, with a mission launch date of no earlier than 2029.

The DAPHNE mission was proposed as a concept study in response to the DYNAMIC (Dynamical Neutral Atmosphere-Ionosphere Coupling) mission announcement of opportunity. Funding and management oversight for this mission is provided by the Solar Terrestrial Probes program at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

For more information on NASA’s heliophysics missions, visit:

https://science.nasa.gov/heliophysics

-end-

Abbey Interrante / Karen Fox
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
abbey.a.interrante@nasa.gov / karen.c.fox@nasa.gov

Research Opportunities in Space and Earth Sciences (ROSES)-2025 is an ongoing “omnibus” or “umbrella” solicitation meaning that it includes many individual program elements each with its own topics and due dates. Refer to Table 3 of ROSES-25 for a list of those program elements. The ROSES-25 “Summary of Solicitation” is the front matter that sets the default backstop rules for each of the program elements in ROSES-25.

ROSES-25 Amendment 59 makes several additions, changes, and clarifications to the ROSES-25 Summary of Solicitation to conform with Agency and administration priorities, see Sections I, I(g), II(a), II(b), III(b), III(d), V(b)ii, VI(c) & VIII(b). New text is in bold.

Important and substantial revisions to 2 CFR 200, the government-wide guidance for grants and cooperative agreements are proposed to take effect October 1, 2026, see https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/05/29/2026-10817/regulation-for-federal-financial-assistance#h-8. Many types of currently allowable costs, such as but not limited to publications, research or events outside the United States, and domestic conferences may be restricted, denied, or may be allowable by legal exception or special award conditions only. Public comments on the revisions to 2 CFR 200 may be submitted until July 13, 2026, at https://www.regulations.gov/commenton/OMB-2026-0034-0001

On or about June 15, 2026, this Amendment to the NASA Research Announcement “Research Opportunities in Space and Earth Sciences (ROSES) 2025” (NNH25ZDA001N) will be posted on the NASA research opportunity homepage at https://solicitation.nasaprs.com/ROSES2025 and will appear on SARA’s ROSES blog at: https://science.nasa.gov/researchers/solicitations/roses-2025/

Questions concerning this amendment to ROSES-25 may be directed to SARA@nasa.gov.

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NASA’s Parker Solar Probe completed its 28th close approach to the Sun on June 8, again matching its record distance of 3.8 million miles from the solar surface. The flyby allowed the spacecraft to continue its measurements of the solar wind and solar activity at their source, while adding to our understanding of how the Sun’s atmosphere changes throughout the solar cycle.

The spacecraft checked in with flight controllers at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland — where Parker Solar Probe was designed and built — on Thursday, transmitting a beacon tone that indicated its systems were operating normally. Zooming around the Sun on a trajectory that limited communications with Earth, Parker had been out of contact and operating autonomously for nine days around its closest approach, as planned.
 
During this solar encounter, which started June 3 and ends Saturday, June 13, Parker’s four scientific instrument packages gathered data from inside the Sun’s atmosphere, or corona. Parker will begin returning detailed spacecraft telemetry on June 14, with science data transmission set to run from Wednesday, June 17 to Tuesday, June 30.
 
Parker’s observations of the solar wind and solar events, such as coronal mass ejections and the aftermaths of flares, are critical to advancing humanity’s understanding of the Sun and the phenomena that drive high-energy space weather events that pose risks to astronauts, satellites, air travel, and even power grids on Earth. Understanding the fundamental physics of space weather enables more reliable prediction of astronaut safety during future deep-space missions to the Moon and Mars.
 
Parker also equaled its record-setting speed of 430,000 mph — a mark that, like Parker’s distance to the Sun, was set during a close approach on Dec. 24, 2024, and matched during five flybys since, most recently on March 11. Parker will continue matching these speed and distance records during future flybys.
 
Through all six close approaches, mission leads say, the spacecraft has remained in excellent condition. While Parker doesn’t have a temperature sensor on the front of its heat shield — known as the Thermal Protection System, or TPS — the team can estimate through models that the heat shield reaches temperatures of about 1,700 degrees Fahrenheit at closest approach.

“The heat shield material is incredibly light and fragile, but the thermal design, as well as the software that keeps the spacecraft pointing the TPS toward the Sun, have been outstanding,” said John Wirzburger, Parker Solar Probe mission systems engineer at APL. “It’s a real tribute to the team that designed, built, and operates Parker Solar Probe.”
 
Meanwhile, the team can measure the temperature of the barrier blanketing below the heat shield, and the actual spacecraft temperature has remained consistent on each pass.
 
“That temperature consistency is a major indicator of spacecraft health,” said Wirzburger. “It tells us the heat shield isn’t degrading. If it were cracking or weakening, we’d see temperatures drift upward as more heat leaked through.”
 
Parker launched in August 2018. At the time, the Sun was near the minimum of its 11-year activity cycle. In 2024, representatives from NASA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the international Solar Cycle Prediction Panel announced that the Sun had reached its solar maximum period. Parker’s 28 encounters with the Sun reflect this change over time, sampling the Sun’s atmosphere from quiet to very active periods. Parker Solar Probe will remain in this orbit around the Sun and continue making observations into the declining phase of solar activity.
 
The next steps for the mission in late 2026 and beyond are under NASA review.
 
Parker Solar Probe was developed as a part of NASA’s Living With a Star (LWS) program to explore aspects of the Sun-Earth system that directly affect life and society. The LWS program is managed by the agency’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. Johns Hopkins APL manages Parker Solar Probe for NASA and designed, built, and now operates the mission.
 
Mike Buckley, Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory

The post Parker Solar Probe Makes 28th Close Pass of Sun appeared first on NASA Science.