Artificial Intelligence at the Edge of the Sun

Here’s the sun, restless and brilliant, spitting storms that can scramble GPS, blind satellites, and nudge power grids toward the edge. For decades, space-weather forecasters have watched and modeled its moods. Now NASA is adding a new co-pilot: AI.

In mid-2025 NASA and IBM unveiled Surya, a heliophysics foundation model trained on years of high-resolution observations of the Sun. Surya ingests extreme-ultraviolet imagery and other solar data to anticipate outbursts—flares and other phenomena that can trigger chain reactions from the upper atmosphere to the ground. NASA says models like this can give earlier warnings to satellite operators and help predict how changes in the Sun’s ultraviolet output ripple through Earth’s ionosphere—crucial for communications and navigation.

The bigger story is that Surya isn’t a one-off gadget; it’s part of a strategy to fuse physics-based models with machine learning. NASA’s own overview of recent heliophysics work highlights teams that pair coronagraph and heliospheric images with ML classifiers to judge whether a coronal mass ejection (CME) will be “geoeffective”—that is, actually disturb Earth’s magnetic field when it arrives. One approach, GeoCME, is emblematic: learn from past events to flag the ones most likely to cause trouble.

AI is also being pushed right to the operational front line. In 2023, NASA described an ML-powered system that acts like a tornado siren for space weather, combining satellite data with AI to forecast hazardous conditions that threaten technology and power infrastructure. The goal isn’t to replace human experts but to buy precious lead time and triage attention on the events most likely to matter.

A lot of this acceleration has come from rapid-prototyping programs at the Frontier Development Lab (FDL)—an applied-AI accelerator run with NASA partners. FDL’s Heliolab teams have tested deep-learning pipelines on EUV imagery to assess whether solar events are eruptive, and to build “virtual instruments” that can plug into foundation models like Surya. It’s an R&D relay race: build on open data, iterate with ML, and fold the best pieces back into NASA’s toolchain.

Surya itself has been open-sourced with IBM, signaling NASA’s intent to make heliophysics AI a community endeavor. IBM characterizes Surya as the first AI foundation model in this domain, designed to help predict solar weather that endangers astronauts, satellites, and terrestrial systems—and to do it faster than current methods. Opening the weights and code invites labs worldwide to fine-tune for niche tasks (say, flare nowcasting versus CME tracking) and to benchmark against shared datasets.

Meanwhile, peer-reviewed research shows why AI is so attractive here: the Sun is periodic, but not politely so. Long-short term memory (LSTM) and related architectures have proven adept at learning solar cycles and flare statistics from decades of time series, improving long-range forecasts of sunspot numbers and related indices that underpin everything from satellite-drag models to HF radio planning. That research gives NASA and partners a menu of architectures to test as they plug AI into the space-weather stack.

Why this matters now

Solar Cycle 25 has already delivered the strongest storms in years, and the next big disturbances won’t wait for cleanroom schedules. By pairing physics with pattern recognition, NASA aims to:

• Warn earlier. Minutes to hours of extra lead time help operators reorient satellites, schedule instrument safe modes, and protect astronauts.

• Target the right threats. ML classifiers help sort “spectacular but harmless” solar fireworks from CMEs that will actually couple with Earth’s magnetosphere.

• Share tools openly. Foundation models and FDL prototypes seed a broader ecosystem, so forecasting improves everywhere—academia, industry, and national agencies.

The endgame is pragmatic: fewer surprises. Better forecasts mean steadier GPS and comms, fewer satellite anomalies, and power grids that can brace before currents surge. The Sun will keep throwing curveballs; NASA’s bet is that AI can teach us to read the pitcher’s hand a little sooner.

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Sources

1. NASA Science: “NASA, IBM’s ‘Hot’ New AI Model Unlocks Secrets of Sun” (Aug. 2025). NASA Science

2. NASA Science: “NASA Missions Help Explain, Predict Severity of Solar Storms” (July 1, 2025) — includes machine-learning GeoCME approach. NASA Science

3. NASA (Mar. 30, 2023): “NASA-enabled AI Predictions May Give Time to Prepare for Solar Storms.” NASA

4. IBM Research Blog (Aug. 20, 2025): “Introducing Surya, a new heliophysics foundation model.” IBM Research

5. Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences (2025): “Forecasting long-term sunspot numbers using the LSTM-WGAN model.” Frontiers

NASA Offers Opportunities for Biological Research on Space Station

Joshua Buck

Headquarters, Washington                          

202-358-1100

jbuck@nasa.gov

WASHINGTON -- NASA invites scientists from around the country to submit proposals to perform biological research aboard the International Space Station. The NASA Research Announcement (NRA), "Research Opportunities in Space Biology," opened Sept. 30.

This NRA challenges scientists to propose experiments that could provide answers to questions about how life adapts and responds to microgravity. Selected investigators will have the opportunity to take advantage of new cell, plant and animal research facilities being developed for the space station. Proposals should demonstrate benefits to astronauts living and working in the harsh environment of space during long-duration missions. They also should improve medicine and health care for humans on Earth.

The NRA also focuses on ground-based research designed to lead to new space biology investigations aboard the orbiting laboratory. The investigations should use microgravity and other characteristics of the space environment effectively to enhance our understanding of basic biological processes and develop the scientific and technological foundations for a safe, productive human presence in space for extended periods in preparation for exploration beyond low Earth orbit. The investigations should apply this knowledge and technology to improve the nation's competitiveness, education and quality of life.

NASA's selection of research projects is guided by recommendations from the National Research Council's 2011 Decadal Survey Report, "Recapturing a Future for Space Exploration: Life and Physical Sciences Research for a New Era." The NASA-developed "Fundamental Space Biology Science Plan" provides an implementation strategy and roadmap based on available flight and fiscal resources.

To read the complete NRA, click on "Solicitations" at NASA's NSPIRES website http://nspires.nasaprs.com.

For information about the International Space Station, visit http://www.nasa.gov/station.

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Registration Open: NASA Tech Days Coming to Cleveland Nov. 28-30

David E. Steitz

Headquarters, Washington      

202-358-1730

david.steitz@nasa.gov

 

Katherine Martin

Glenn Research Center, Cleveland

216-433-2406

katherine.martin@nasa.gov

 

WASHINGTON -- NASA Technology Days, a three-day public technology showcase, will take place at the Cleveland Public Auditorium and Conference Center Nov. 28-30. The space technology showcase will bring together stakeholders from industry, academia and the U.S. government to engage in strategy development, partnership building and methods of fostering technology transfer and innovation.

NASA Tech Days attendees will get a comprehensive overview of the agency's technology programs for space science, exploration and aeronautics, and discover innovative and advanced technologies that are stimulating the economy and sustaining our nation's global competitiveness. NASA's Tech Days are free and open to the public, but registration is required. To register, visit http://www.aiaa.org/nasatechdays.

Visitors will explore the NASA showcase, featuring mature NASA-funded technologies that can be transferred to aerospace, advanced energy, automotive, innovative manufacturing and human health industries. The demonstrations and exhibits will provide opportunities for networking, business development and forging of new relationships while attendees learn about leading technologies contributing to American economic growth and innovation.

Attendees also can attend presentations by NASA program executives about the agency's upcoming technology initiatives. In addition, participants will have the opportunity to discuss technology transfer and strategic partnerships with NASA officials.

NASA's Glenn Research Center of Cleveland, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., and NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va., will be participating in the showcase, providing exhibits and information on how businesses can partner with NASA for technology development, transfer and innovation.

For more information about NASA's Office of the Chief Technologist and the agency's Space Technology Program, visit http://www.nasa.gov/oct.

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Global Hawk Aircraft

This image captures a perspective of NASA's Global Hawk unmanned aircraft from one of the wings. The Global Hawk is sitting at the aircraft hangar of NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Wallops Island, Va. on Sept. 7, 2012.

The month-long Hurricane and Severe Storm Sentinel (HS3), which began in early September, is currently deploying one instrument-laden Global Hawk from the NASA Wallops Flight Facility on Virginia's Eastern Shore to look at the environment of tropical storms. In 2013 and 2014, a second Global Hawk will be added that will focus on getting detailed measurements of the inner core of hurricanes.

The Global Hawk's ability to fly for a much longer period of time than manned aircraft will allow it to obtain previously difficult-to-get data. Scientists hope to use that data to gain new insights into how tropical storms form, and more importantly, how they intensify into major Atlantic hurricanes — information that forecasters need to make better storm predictions, save lives, and ultimately prevent costly coastal evacuations if a storm doesn't warrant them.

Image Credit: NASA

The Milky Way's Hot Gas Halo

This artist's illustration shows an enormous halo of hot gas (in blue) around the Milky Way galaxy. Also shown, to the lower left of the Milky Way, are the Small and Large Magellanic Clouds, two small neighboring galaxies. The halo of gas is shown with a radius of about 300,000 light years, although it may extend significantly further.

Data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory was used to estimate [link to press release] that the mass of the halo is comparable to the mass of all the stars in the Milky Way galaxy. If the size and mass of this gas halo is confirmed, it could be the solution to the "missing-baryon" problem for the Galaxy.

In a recent study, a team of five astronomers used data from Chandra, ESA's XMM-Newton, and Japan's Suzaku satellite to set limits on the temperature, extent and mass of the hot gas halo. Chandra observed eight bright X-ray sources located far beyond the Galaxy at distances of hundreds of millions of light years. The data revealed that X-rays from these distant sources are selectively absorbed by oxygen ions in the vicinity of the Galaxy. The nature of the absorption allowed the scientists to determine that the temperature of the absorbing halo is between 1 million and 2.5 million Kelvins.

Other studies have shown that the Milky Way and other galaxies are embedded in warm gas, with temperatures between 100,000 and one million degrees, and there have been indications that a hotter component with a temperature greater than a million degrees is also present. This new research provides evidence that the mass in the hot gas halo enveloping the Milky is much greater than that of the warm gas.

Credits: NASA/CXC/M.Weiss; NASA/CXC/Ohio State/A.Gupta et al.

NASA Hosts Teleconference on Status of Mars Program Options

Dwayne Brown

Headquarters, Washington           

202-358-1726

dwayne.c.brown@nasa.gov

WASHINGTON -- NASA will host a media teleconference 3 p.m. EDT Tuesday, Sept. 25, to provide details of a summary report provided by the Mars Program Planning Group (MPPG).

The MPPG was established to aid with planning for the agency's future Mars Program within available future budgets.

The teleconference participants are:

-- John Grunsfeld, astronaut and associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington

-- Orlando Figueroa, MPPG team lead

Media representatives can request dial-in information by sending their name, affiliation and phone number to stephen.e.cole@nasa.gov by 2:30 p.m. Sept. 25.

The summary report will be posted an hour before the teleconference on NASA's MPPG webpage, at http://www.nasa.gov/offices/marsplanning/home/index.html.

Audio of the teleconference will be streamed live at http://www.nasa.gov/newsaudio.

For information about NASA's Mars Program, visit http://www.nasa.gov/mars.

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