Physics and Astronomy

To solve one of space science’s most enduring puzzles, University of Iowa researchers have been awarded a $733,873 NASA grant to investigate how turbulence in the solar wind heats plasma. Led by University of Iowa Professor Gregory Howes and Dr. Daniel McGinnis, the team will utilize data from the Solar Orbiter spacecraft to uncover the mechanisms behind this turbulent dissipation, aiming to protect Earth from the impacts of extreme space weather.

NASA's HEliophysics Strategic Technology Office (HESTO) has selected Prof. David Miles from the University of Iowa and Prof. Wojciech Miloch of the University of Oslo to provide a fluxgate magnetometer for the upcoming Norwegian ICI-5bis sounding rocket mission.

Although you won’t be able to see a man on it or cheese in it — or see it at all with your naked eye, in fact — Earth is getting a “mini” moon this month, and a University of Iowa astronomer said the school bus-sized asteroid orbiting the planet actually is much closer than the moon you can see.