While summer is quickly ending, progress did not slow down for the IMAP team in August. Several more teams and instruments completed their critical design reviews, and two in-person gatherings occurred. The IMAP Team met at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics in Boulder, CO. to discuss the centers for payload…
July brought many more steps forward for the IMAP mission. Successful critical design reviews (CDRs) were held for the The Solar Wind and Pickup Ion (SWAPI) instrument collects and counts solar wind particles and pick-up ions (PUIs). and The Solar Wind Electron (SWE) instrument collects and counts electrons from the solar wind in a range of energies from 0.2-2000 electron volts (eVs). instruments, as well as for several systems: the electrical power system (EPS), the spacecraft harness system, and the mission operation system’s ground hardware. More teams can move into final testing on…
June has been fantastic for the IMAP Team. First, we had the first in-person gathering of the IMAP Science Team in nearly a year. APL was a gracious host for a combined A predecessor to IMAP, IBEX is studying how our heliosphere interacts with interstellar space. IBEX created the first maps showing the interactions at that border, and how they change over time./IMAP science meeting that began the week, followed by an IMAP instrument and systems science team meeting. Presentations covered a great number of intriguing research…
The IMAP payload instruments and systems are developing quickly – much like the growth and transformation that April and May bring each spring. While work continues on each component at the many partner institute homes during our current engineering model build and test phase, it is a…
Spring is an inspiring A measure of the flow of events. for the work on our spacecraft at APL and at each instrument home institution. Engineers have been in high productivity as they continue to build and test each component and prepare for their CDRs. More opportunity to work together in person also joyfully continues to increase, adding to the GO IMAP spirit that…
With the new year comes great advancements for the IMAP mission. Many firsts are happening as instrument engineering model (EM) assemblies go from paper to metal and are put through initial testing and calibration. “First light” reports from imagers and An instrument which is used to discover that something is present somewhere, or to measure how much of something there is. components have been rolling in weekly, along with pictures of the…
Jon, a The study of the Sun and its connection to the solar system, including the physical processes that occur in the space environment. research scientist who graduated from UNH, had the opportunity to be involved with the IMAP mission from its proposal, conducting simulations and some data analysis for The IMAP-Lo instrument collects, counts, categorizes, and maps interstellar neutral atoms (ISN) and energetic neutral atoms (ENAs) of energies less than 40 kiloelectron volts (keV). IMAP-Lo is mounted on a pivot platform that allows it to adjust its field-of-view to capture data across almost the entire sky, and to measure interstellar neutral atoms throughout most of the year., and helping to build the IMAP-Lo lab. “Buying parts, putting in floors, meeting with contractors…the lab is being tented this week. We…
Happy November to all our IMAP community! The GO IMAP! excitement increases every week as new milestones are incrementally reached in building and testing each of the specialized components of the IMAP instruments. As we finish laying out the electrical and mechanical systems for each instrument and begin manufacturing,…
Greetings, IMAP friends!
I am absolutely thrilled to bring you news about the next NASA exploration opportunity at the very edge of our solar system. Launching in 2025, the Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe, or IMAP, will explore and map the boundaries of our The bubble-like region surrounding the solar system inflated by the solar wind, shielding the solar system from interstellar radiation.. This modern-day celestial cartographer will also…