Dr. David McComas, IMAP PI
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 investigate how the heliosphere interacts with the local The area of galaxy surrounding a solar system which contains nearby stars and the local interstellar medium (ISM).. It is an incredibly exciting A measure of the flow of events. in the mission, as the fantastic IMAP science and engineering team just recently received confirmation to enter into development Phase C/D in NASA-speak, where we complete final designs and actually build the spacecraft and instruments.
For thirteen years, data from the small explorer mission Interstellar Boundary Explorer (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.) has divulged large revelations about our heliosphere with the discovery of the IBEX Ribbon being most intriguing. This region of enhanced energetic neutral The smallest particle of an element that exhibits the chemical properties of the element. (ENA) emissions that stretch across a significant portion of the sky has continued to be of intense interest to helioscientists. IBEX not only allowed for observable changes in A stream of charged particles, mostly protons and electrons, that escapes into the Sun's outer atmosphere at high speeds and streams out into the solar system in all directions. particle acceleration to be mapped, but also revealed new questions about the interaction of the solar wind particles with the nearby The interstellar medium is the matter that exists in the space between the stars within a galaxy. This matter includes ionized and electrically neutral gas (primarily hydrogen and helium), dust, and cosmic rays. The ISM plays a crucial role in the lifecycle of stars and galaxies. It is the reservoir from which new stars are born and into which old stars expel material when they die.. IMAP will investigate both these issues in the greatest detail yet. From its advantageous The curved path, usually elliptical, described by a planet, satellite, spaceship, etc., around a celestial body, such as the Sun; also called orbital path. position at An orbital path in space about one million miles from Earth towards the Sun that is without any magnetic interference from the planets. (Lagrange Point 1 is an orbital path in space about one million miles from Earth towards the Sun that is without any magnetic interference from the planets.), which is about one million miles from Earth towards the Sun, IMAP’s intricate sensors and collectors will work collaboratively to make visible the most intricate image of our heliosphere and its interaction within our A huge collection of millions to trillions of stars and their planetary systems held together by gravity, and the gas, plasma, and dust that are also gravitationally held to the galaxy. The galaxy our solar system is found in is called the Milky Way.. It is truly a new frontier of phenomenal understanding of our place in space.
This incredible investigation through IMAP is made exponentially greater due to the partnership of 25 collaborating institutions that span six countries and 12 states. IMAP’s ten-instrument payload will collectively precisely measure the Energetic Neutral Atoms are atoms with no charge that move very quickly. These atoms have equal numbers of positively-charged protons and negatively-charged electrons. ENAs form when charged particles from the solar wind travel outward and encounter atoms from the interstellar medium. Because the ENAs are neutral, they do not react to any magnetic fields. Some of these ENAs travel toward the inner solar system and are captured by the IMAP spacecraft. and interstellar neutral atom flow and The specific components or “ingredients” that make up a substance or type of matter., dust composition, and The process by which ions are produced, typically occurring by collisions with atoms or electrons ("collisional ionization") or by interaction with electromagnetic radiation ("photoionization"). rate/Usually refers to electromagnetic waves, such as light, radio, infrared, X-rays, ultraviolet; also sometimes used to refer to atomic particles of high energy, such as electrons (beta-radiation), helium nuclei (alpha-radiation), and so on. pressure and Magnetism is one of the basic forces of the universe. A magnetic field is a region of magnetism, which is caused by either moving electric charges or magnetic materials.. Being able to work collegially to forward The study of the Sun and its connection to the solar system, including the physical processes that occur in the space environment. with such incredible talent here in the US and other global space agencies is only met with great amounts of gratitude and shared excitement. It is with great enthusiasm that the entire team cheers: Go IMAP!
I have touched already on the amazing and talented team that has been assembled to make IMAP a reality. Each month, I will also introduce you to the names and faces of the different members that make this mission possible. A mission requires a vast cadre of professionals and specialists in an extensively varied number of fields and expertise, from engineers and physicists to communications and outreach. I am delighted to introduce you to the first great team member feature: Dan Matlin, lead for the Radio The number of repetitions per unit time of the oscillations of an electromagnetic wave (or other wave). The higher the frequency, the greater the energy of the radiation and the smaller the wavelength. Frequency is measured in Hertz. Subsystem on IMAP, the communication system critical to IMAP’s success.
I look forward to sharing many more milestones, discoveries, and phenomenal team members in the months to come, where you can join in the excitement.
Thanks for your interest and Go IMAP GO!
IMAP Team Spotlight Feature: Dan Matlin, IMAP Radio Frequency Subsystem Lead
Without Dan, we might never know what IMAP finds. The Radio Frequency (RF) subsystem on a spacecraft is what allows the humans on Earth and the instruments on the orbiting spacecraft to “talk” with each other. The humans tell the instruments what to look for and where to look through the RF subsystem and IMAP sends what it finds back to Earth for the IMAP science team to interpret. Dan not only leads the technical design of the RF subsystem for IMAP, but also manages the schedule, cost, and team of people that are involved in working on the various aspects of the subsystem. Amongst the numerous cutting-edge instruments and sensors that IMAP will carry into orbit, the RF subsystem success is critical to overall mission success, including helping IMAP to navigate by utilizing the radio in the RF subsystem to return data back to Earth.
While his 16-year-old self would not be surprised that he holds the RF Subsystems Lead position, Dan feels that that teenager would be impressed. He always “had big expectations; one eye in a telescope, and lots of ambition.” It was Star Wars that sparked Dan’s curiosity in engineering (“Isn’t that where all engineers get their inspiration?”), so having the ability and opportunity to design the telecommunications links for this mission is one of the top points that excites Dan most about his job. Leading up to his IMAP position, he held several different roles over his career in various missions, additionally providing experiences in each phase of a mission. These roles not only connected him more strongly to his RF communications group, but provided the skills and knowledge needed for his lead role through his work with various RF systems programs. He also gained additional experience with other groups and subsystems in these positions. A great bonus for Dan from these career positions was that he learned more than he ever thought possible about pin depth on RF cable assemblies. This level of knowledge and experience led him to be able to confidently level up to the lead role and take the reins for the IMAP RF subsystem team. With this lead role, he is excited to be presented with new skills to learn, the interdisciplinary collaboration opportunities across the spacecraft teams, as well as “discovering new ways to make mistakes.” Through his varied and rich career experience, he has been wizened to the idea that no one has all the answers, or everything figured out; being unafraid to try something new is what forwards ideas.
Dan considers the IMAP mission investigation important in how it will advance knowledge about the heliosphere, especially through leveraging the observation ability from Lagrange Point 1 (L1) with a greater capacity than can be accomplished here closer to Earth. He believes that having better understanding of the heliosphere will also expand our understanding of our Sun, it’s influence in our solar system, and how solar influence interacts with interstellar space. During the investigation to advance this understanding, it would be extremely exciting for Dan if IMAP gets to flight and the subsystem performs even better than expected, allowing for greater amounts of science being returned. Dan would like to see the science and findings from IMAP to be used to engage youth and young adult audiences through outreach programs designed to make the data more easily accessible.
When Dan is not leading the RF subsystems team for a spacecraft, he shifts his radio frequencies to enable him to listen to audiobooks and plan trips that involve trees. He also loves to engineer meals with ingredients, including condiments, that most people would never dream of putting together.