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Using empirical results on the interplanetary magnetic field strengths of magnetic clouds versus velocities, we show that the 1 September 1859 Carrington solar flare most likely had an associated intense magnetic cloud ejection which led to a storm on Earth of DST ~ -1760 nT.

Polar cap boundary layer waves are ELF/VLF electric and magnetic waves detected on field lines just adjacent to the polar cap. Intense waves are present at this location essentially all (96%) of the time.

The purpose of this paper will be to examine a specific but important subset of magnetic storms, those that are caused by large southward, smoothly rotating magnetic fields: interplanetary magnetic clouds.

A dawn/dusk flank auroral event has been studied using multiple observations of the WIND and POLAR spacecraft, Antarctic all-sky images and Greenland magnetometers.

The Deep Space 1 (DS1) mission has successfully validated the use of ion propulsion technology for interplanetary spacecraft. The NASA Solar Electric Propulsion (SEP) Technology Applications Readiness (NSTAR) Project developed the Ion Propulsion Subsystem (IPS) for DS1. As part of the NSTAR validation effort, the NSTAR Project included a diagnostics element to characterize the local environment produced during IPS operations and its effects on spacecraft subsystems and science instruments. An integrated, comprehensive set of diagnostics, the NSTAR Diagnostics Package (NPD) was developed and operated on DS1 to characterize the IPS environment. The DS1 Spacecraft Team officially assigned the name “IPS Diagnostics Subsystems (IDS)” to the NDP for the DS1 mission. During the technology validation phase of the DS1 mission, a large amount of data was collected from the IDS under a variety of IPS operating conditions. IDS was able to characterize the contamination environment, charge-exchange xenon ion and electron population and energies, plasma noise and electromagnetic noise, and magnetic fields associated with IPS. The results presented here describe the charge-exchange plasma, contamination, plasma wave/EMI, and DC magnetic environments critical to designers of future space missions using ion propulsion

Responses of the nightside magnetosphere and auroral zone to interplanetary shocks are studies using WIND solar wind data and POLAR UV imaging data.

The Cassini spacecraft flew past the Earth in a trajectory almost along the Sun-Earth line, giving a unique perspective of low frequency waves in geospace.

Solar Probe, the first mission to the Sun and the third of three missions in NASA's Outer Solar System/Solar Probe Program, is a voyage of exploration, discovery, and comprehension. This near-Sun flyby will provide in situ measurements in the solar corona and high-resolution pictures and magnetograms of the photosphere and polar atmosphere. These measurements are also needed as "ground truth" for interpreting the many measurements of the Sun and solar activity that have been made from a distance of 1 AU. Solar Probe is scheduled for launch in February 2007. It will arrive at the Sun along a polar trajectory perpendicular to the Sun-Earth line with a perihelion of 4 solar radii (R(sub s)) from the Sun's center. Two perihelion passages will occur, the first in 2010 (near solar sunspot maximum) and the second in 2015 (near solar minimum) ensuring measurement of both coronal hole and streamer-related solar wind properties. To reach the Sun, probe must first fly to Jupiter and use a gravity assist to lose its angular momentum about the Sun. The imaging and in situ miniaturized instruments will provide the first 3-dimensional view of the corona, high spatial- and temporal-resolutions of the magnetic fields, and helioseismic measurements of the polar regions, as well as sporadic high-spatial-resolution local sampling of plasmas and fields at all latitudes.

The sun is losing mass in form of the solar wind, which has affected its evolution from its birth and will continue to do so until its death. This is not unusual in that nearly all stars are losing mass through stellar winds throughout a major portion of their lives. As far as the Earth is concerned, the solar wind blows against the Earth's magnetosphere, causes aurora and geomagnetic storms, and can affect the Earth's climate.