Preparing the B-200. Ray Rogers, member of an instrument operations team, cleans the glass on NASA’s King Air B-200. The glass allows a laser to emit a beam of light from below the aircraft toward the ground. The laser studies atmospheric particles called aerosols. Credit: NASA

NASA science is focused on better understanding Earth through the Earth Observing System. Also advancing heliophysics through the efforts of the Science Mission Directorate’s Heliophysics Research Program; exploring bodies throughout the Solar System with advanced robotic spacecraft missions such as New Horizons; and researching astrophysics topics, such as the Big Bang, through the Great Observatories and associated programs.