On Dec. 7, 2023, Nicola Fox, associate administrator for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, signed on behalf of the agency the Memorandum of Agreement for Space Weather Research-To-Operations-To-Research Collaboration. This quad-agency agreement is between NASA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the National Science Foundation, and the U.S. Air Force.
The memorandum outlines the responsibilities for collaboration across the federal government to enhance the country’s preparedness for space weather – the environmental changes caused in space by the constant outflow of solar wind from the Sun.
In addition to improving our ability to protect satellites and GPS signals from space weather, NASA’s heliophysics division works closely with our Artemis program to support the human exploration of deep space in a variety of ways including learning how to measure the radiation environment on and around the moon. These measurements will aid in the prediction and validation of the radiation environment that our astronauts will experience.