Science Plans for the International Heliophysical Year
Abstract
On October 4, 1957, only 53 years after the beginning of flight in Kitty Hawk, the launch of Sputnik 1 marked the beginning of the space age; as mankind took the first steps to leaving the protected environment of Earth's atmosphere. Discovery of the radiation belts, the solar wind, and the structure of Earth's magnetosphere prepared the way for the inevitable human exploration to follow. Soon, Cosmonauts and Astronauts orbited Earth, and then in 1969, Astronauts landed on the Moon. Today a similar story is unfolding, the spacecraft Voyager has crossed the termination shock, and will soon leave the heliosphere. For the first time, man will begin to explore the local interstellar medium. It is inevitable that, during the next 50 years, exploration of the solar system including the Moon, Mars and the outer planets will be the focus of the space program, and like 50 years ago, unmanned probes will lead the way, followed by human exploration. The International Geophysical Year (IGY) of 1957, a broad-based and all-encompassing effort to push the frontiers of geophysics, resulted in a tremendous increase of knowledge in space physics, Sun-Earth Connection, planetary science and the heliosphere in general. Now, 50 years later, we have the unique opportunity to further advance our knowledge of the global heliosphere and its interaction with the interstellar medium through the International Heliophysical Year (IHY) in 2007, and to raise public awareness of space physics. This presentation will focus on global science planning efforts and campaigns for all participating IHY nations.
- Publication:
-
AGU Spring Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- May 2006
- Bibcode:
- 2006AGUSM.U34A..04D
- Keywords:
-
- 7500 SOLAR PHYSICS;
- ASTROPHYSICS;
- AND ASTRONOMY;
- 7800 SPACE PLASMA PHYSICS