Exploration and understanding of space has always been at the frontier of advancing human knowledge. In this project, we contextualize the topic of turbulence in the heliosphere and explain these concepts to learners using freely available resources provided by NASA’s Science Mission Directorate and featuring NASA assets.

Turbulence is a phenomenon often associated with uncomfortable events during airplane travel. However, turbulence can be found in many places other than the lower atmosphere, and its influence can have an impact on the entire solar system. Collaborating with scientists from the HelioSwarm mission, we create a virtual tour using Infiniscope’s Tour It platform to show how NASA Subject Matter Experts are building tools to observe turbulence happening in space.

We apply the Heliophysics Framework for Education to create lessons about the HelioSwarm mission including a virtual tour and interactive Interview A Scientist activities. We also engage researchers in communicating their work directly to learners and foster an environment where learners can explore their curiosity and engage with the unknown. Feedback from instructors within the NASA Community College Network identifies which which digital learning experiences and which topics are most likely to be widely used in classrooms throughout the country.