Missions with Astrophysics Science Division Involvement

Current Missions

• Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE)
  The Earth is constantly bombarded with a stream of accelerated particles arriving not only from the Sun, but also from interstellar and galactic sources. Study of these energetic particles contributes to our understanding of the formation and evolution of the solar system as well as the astrophysical processes involved.
• Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer (FUSE)
  FUSE studies the cosmic abundance of deuterium (a rare form of "heavy hydrogen" formed only in the Big Bang) and the chemical composition of galaxies and the interstellar medium to answer questions about the formation and evolution of our universe.
• Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX)
  GALEX observes galaxies in ultraviolet light. These observations tell scientists how galaxies, the basic structures of our Universe, evolve and change. GALEX also probes the causes of star formation during a period when most of the stars and elements we see today had their origins.
• High Energy Transient Explorer (HETE-2)
  The HETE-2 program is an international collaboration to help unravel the mystery of Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs). Its primary goal is to determine the origin and nature of gamma-ray bursts and identification of counterparts to these explosions.
• Hubble Space Telescope (HST)
  One of NASA's "Great Observatories", Hubble uses excellent pointing precision, powerful optics, and state-of-the-art instruments to provide stunning views of the Universe that cannot be made using ground-based telescopes or other satellites.
• International Gamma-Ray Astrophysics Laboratory (INTEGRAL)
  INTEGRAL provides a new insight into the most violent and exotic objects of the Universe and helps us to understand processes such as the formation of new chemical elements. Environments of extreme temperature and density, near the event-horizons of black holes, are a major topic of study with INTEGRAL.
• Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE)
  RXTE observes the fast-moving, high-energy worlds of black holes, neutron stars, X-ray pulsars and bursts of X-rays that light up the sky and then disappear forever. For RXTE, the trick to observing these kinds of objects is all in the timing -- an ability to observe changes in X-ray brightness that occur in a mere thousandths of a second, or over several years.
• Spitzer
  Spitzer, another of NASA's "Great Observatories" observes the universe in infrared light, which allows us to peer into regions of star formation, the centers of galaxies, and into newly forming planetary systems. Infrared also brings us information about the cooler objects in space, such as smaller stars, extrasolar planets, and giant molecular clouds.
• Suzaku
  Suzaku will advance our quest to answer the following questions: When and where are the chemical elements created? What happens when matter falls onto a black hole? How does nature heat gas to X-ray emitting temperatures?
• Swift
  Swift's goal is to solve the gamma-ray burst mystery. Do they signal the birth of a black hole in a massive stellar explosion? Are they the product of the collision of two neutron stars? Within seconds of detecting a burst, Swift relays a burst's location to ground stations, allowing both ground-based and space-based telescopes around the world the opportunity to observe the burst's afterglow.
• Wilkinson Microwave Anisotrophy Probe (WMAP)
  WMAP has made a map of the temperature fluctuations of the Cosmic Microwave Background radiation with much higher resolution, sensitivity, and accuracy than COBE. The new information contained in these finer fluctuations sheds light on several key questions in cosmology including the structure and physical parameters of the universe.
• Wind
  Wind's goals are to study the magnetosphere and ionosphere and nvestigate basic plasma processes occuring in the near-Earth solar wind
• XMM-Newton
  XMM-Newton can reveal the details of the creation of elements by probing the amount of oxygen, silicon, iron, and other elements in stars, supernova remnants, galaxies, and clusters of galaxies. XMM-Newton's sensitive measurements will help scientists explain how gases are heated to extraodinary energies in the corona of a star, and how cosmic ray particles are accelerated in young supernova remnants.

Future Missions & Programs