Exploration
at Goddard
At Goddard, exploration is a system that builds outward, grounded in understanding Earth, extending through the space environment, and enabling safe and sustained missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.
The Sciences and Exploration Directorate (SED) brings together complementary scientific disciplines that work in concert to make exploration possible. Each contributes in a distinct way, while collectively forming a unified exploration enterprise.
Earth Sciences
The Earth Sciences Division is the nation's technical innovator and essential data provider to support national infrastructure, scientific leadership, and economic resilience.
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Astrophysics
The Astrophysics Science Division leads America's quest to answer our most profound scientific questions, developing technologies with transformative applications in medicine, national security, and intelligence.
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Heliophysics
The Heliophysics Science Division advances understanding of the Sun and its interactions with Earth and the solar system, providing the foundational science that drives space weather research and solutions in collaboration with government, industry, and academia.
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Solar System
The Solar System Exploration Division powers space missions and leads human space exploration to the Moon and Mars through revolutionary research that charts the frontiers of our solar system and deepens our understanding of planetary system formation and evolution.
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NASA Science
What a cosmic coincidence! In today’s image, Mars joins the Beehive cluster (M44 or Praesepe) below an auroral curtain and above a horizon of happy little trees near Lansjärv, Sweden. An eruption off the Sun reached Earth on October 10th, 2026 causing strong disturbances in Earth’s magnetic field. Energetic particles from the eruption collide with and energize the molecules in Earth’s atmosphere, which release that extra energy as the colorful aurora captured here. Auroras, or guovssahasat in North Sámi, is traditionally viewed with respect by the Sámi people indigenous to Sweden and other Arctic regions. Coincidentally, Mars appeared closest to the center of the Beehive cluster in the sky at the time. Although bees have been to space, the Beehive cluster is actually a swarm of young stars. Their rotation periods have helped humanity learn about how stars spin slower over time as they lose mass through their stellar winds.Tomorrow's picture: open space