All About IMAP
Learn more about the mission and spacecraft.
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Image Credit: NASA/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./Adler Planetarium
The heliosphere is the bubble that surrounds our solar system. It is made of charged particles (plasma) and magnetic field from our Sun because the outward flowing plasma, called the solar wind, blows against the material between surrounding stars, or the interstellar medium. It shields our solar neighborhood from harmful radiation found in the interstellar medium as it moves through our area of the galaxy. The heliosphere’s edge is dynamic, changing with the flow of the solar wind as it interacts with the interstellar medium.
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From left to right: the The IMAP-Hi instrument consists of an identical pair of imagers that collect, count, measure, and map energetic neutral atoms (ENAs) of energies from 0.4 to 15.6 kiloelectron volts (keV) from two different angles. Together they will be able to image the global sky. 90, 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., The IMAP-Ultra instrument consists of an identical pair of imagers that collect, count, measure, and map energetic neutral atoms (ENAs) of energies from 5-40 kiloelectronvolts (keV.) Ultra consists of two identical instruments that are positioned on opposite sides of the spacecraft at different angles. Together, the Ultra pair will be able to image the entire celestial sphere. 45, The High-energy Ion Telescope (HIT) collects, measures, and maps very energetic particles coming through the heliosphere, as well as those flowing from the Sun. Near real-time energetic particle data collected by HIT will be used to better predict and warn scientists about Earth-bound solar storm activity., and The Interstellar Dust Experiment (IDEX) instrument collects and analyzes interstellar dust and interplanetary dust particles found in our solar system to better understand their compositions, the speeds they travel, their concentrations within our solar system, and their interactions with the solar wind. instruments.
Image Credit: NASA/Princeton/Patrick McPike
The Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP) is a NASA heliophysics mission that uses a suite of 10 instruments to study a wide range of particles and fields in the heliosphere. Some of these instruments observe particles that come from the very edge of heliosphere and allow us to map the interaction of our solar system with the local interstellar medium (the stuff between stars). Other instruments combine to figure out how particles are accelerated to high energies by the Sun and across the cosmos. IMAP is also a space weather station that can warn us of solar storms heading towards the Earth before the storms arrive.
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An artist’s depiction of NASA’s Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP) spacecraft.
Image Credit: NASA/Princeton/Patrick McPike
The data IMAP collects helps scientists try to answer some very big questions about our heliosphere, such as:
- Exactly which elements make up the interstellar gas and dust, which gives us a fingerprint that points to their origin.
- How does the solar wind and interstellar medium interact through the boundaries of our heliosphere?
- What causes some solar particles to get accelerated to nearly the speed of light, which makes them dangerous to satellites and astronauts, and how can we predict when these particles will occur?
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The mechanical subsystem aboard the Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland.
Image Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Ed Whitman
The IMAP spacecraft is about 8 feet in diameter, and about 3 feet tall. It has a frame which is divided into 6 bays that hold 11 instrument sensors, plus one on top. The completed spacecraft, with fuel for the propulsion system, weighs approximately 900 kg.
An artist’s depiction of NASA’s Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP) spacecraft.
Image Credit: NASA/Princeton/Patrick McPike
IMAP launches on a Space-X Falcon-9 two-stage rocket from Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral in Florida. In space, IMAP’s onboard propulsion system steers the spacecraft to its final orbit about 1 million miles closer towards the Sun than the Earth, at a place called Lagrange Point 1 (L1). IMAP spins 4 times per minute. Solar panels facing the Sun provide the power to run the instruments and other systems during the mission.
John Schellhase, Emory Toomey, and Tyler Radomsky perform a walk-out of the A device used to measure the intensity and direction of the local magnetic field. (The Magnetometer (MAG) instrument measures the strength and direction of the magnetic field in interplanetary space as the field is carried past the IMAP spacecraft by the solar wind. It consists of two fluxgate magnetometers installed on a boom arm that will deploy post-launch, extending the instruments away from the spacecraft to minimize magnetic interference of spacecraft and instrument electrical systems.) boom on the Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP) at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland.
Image Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins/Princeton/Ed Whitman
IMAP’s magnetometer, MAG, is fastened to a boom arm that is folded to fit perfectly between the two sets of solar array panels on the top deck for launch. In space, the boom unfolds, extending the sensors out away from the spacecraft and any magnetic interference caused by the electrical systems.
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IMAP-Lo, IMAP-Hi, and IMAP-Ultra
These instruments collect, count, measure, and map energetic neutral atoms (ENAs) that are traveling inward from the very edge of our solar system where they were formed. IMAP-Lo also collects neutral atoms that flow in through the heliosphere from the interstellar medium. These ENAs can be used to map out the interaction of the heliosphere and the local interstellar medium.
The MAG instrument measures the changing solar magnetic field as it moves through our solar neighborhood. The magnetic field is directly tied to the motion of the charged particles that IMAP is also measuring.
These instruments provide observations of electrons and ions over speeds from a few hundred thousand miles per hour up to nearly the speed of light.
The GLOWS instrument provides observations of electrons and ions over speeds from a few hundred thousand miles per hour up to nearly the speed of light.
The IDEX instrument determines the composition of cosmic dust that originates from outside our solar system and flows through the heliosphere.
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- Energetic neutral atoms (ENAs) (IMAP-Hi, IMAP-Lo, IMAP-Ultra): Where the solar wind and the interstellar medium meet, charged solar wind particles can sometimes crash into atoms coming from the interstellar medium, stealing electrons. When this happens, they become neutral, meaning they carry no electrical charge. This also means they cannot be influenced by magnetic fields, so they travel in straight lines through our solar neighborhood. Some of these ENAs travel back towards the Sun at high speeds from the boundary.
- Interstellar Neutrals (ISN) (IMAP-Lo): Hydrogen is the most abundant species of gas found in the interstellar medium, but all the natural elements on the periodic chart are also present. This gas is a combination of neutral atoms (equal numbers of protons and electrons), ions (atomic nuclei that have lost some electrons), and the electrons that have separated from the ions. The ions and electrons are mostly deflected by the solar wind and the magnetic field that travels with it. But the neutral atoms flow through solar plasma and can be observed by IMAP-Lo.
- Pick-up ions (PUIs) (SWAPI and CoDICE): PUIs are atoms that travel through our solar system from the interstellar medium. As they travel closer to the Sun, they can become ionized by the Sun and then carried back towards the boundary by the solar wind.
- Solar particles (SWE, SWAPI, HIT, and CoDICE): Particles coming from the Sun include ions and electrons that are distributed from relatively low speed (the solar wind), to higher energy energized particles (called the suprathermal tail of the solar wind), and up to the particles moving near the speed of light (solar energetic particles).
- Magnetic fields (MAG): The Sun’s magnetic field extends far out past the last planets. It changes and fluctuates as it is carried by the hot solar wind toward the boundary in ways that can be detected.
- Interstellar dust (IDEX): Cosmic dust is made of conglomerations of particles about the same size as a grain of sand that originate from outside our solar system. The make-up of this dust matter acts like a fingerprint, indicating where it originates in the galaxy.
- Ultraviolet Light (GLOWS): Hydrogen ions from the interstellar medium emit specific wavelengths of ultraviolet radiation, called Lyman alpha photons, when they interact with light from the Sun.
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Each of the different instruments measure and map a different component of the inner and outer heliosphere. Scientists use the data collected from each instrument to try to answer specific questions about the individual types of collected matter.
IMAP-Lo, IMAP-Hi, and IMAP-Ultra
These instruments give data to create maps of the heliosphere over spans of time. These maps provide high-resolution details of the concentrations of ENAs that are formed at the boundary, in multiple energy bands.
The MAG instrument helps scientists understand how charged particles in the solar wind travel across the solar system.
These instruments work together to provide a comprehensive understanding of solar particles, helping to understand why and when some particles are accelerated up to high energies.
The composition of the cosmic dust IDEX collects and analyzes acts like a fingerprint, indicating where it originates in the galaxy. This gives us a glimpse of the compositions of stars far beyond our solar system. By studying this dust, scientists can significantly advance our knowledge about these basic celestial building materials and learn more about the material that exists between stars.
The GLOWS instrument observes the solar wind’s evolving structure by looking at specific wavelengths of ultraviolet radiation where hydrogen ions from the ISM interact with solar photons.
An infographic grouping the instruments according to the matter they collect, count, and measure. AR images of the instrument groupings are found on the left with a text explanation of how the data is used on the right.
Image Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
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IMAP’s three ENA instruments - IMAP-Lo, IMAP-Hi, and IMAP-Ultra - are each positioned on the spinning spacecraft to give them the ability to collect ENAs from almost the whole sky. IMAP-Hi and Ultra each have two sensors to help observe the whole sky efficiently. At any one time, each instrument only allows particles of certain energies to be counted. Information about those particles, such as their energy and the direction that they came from, are also recorded. IMAP scientists use the number of counts the sensors collect in each part of the sky to create color-coded maps of the heliosphere that show the different concentrations ENAs found in each particular part of the solar system’s boundary over a particular length of time and at the different energy levels.
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Image Credit: NASA/Princeton/Patrick McPike
The IMAP spacecraft studies the Heliospheric boundary from afar, orbiting the Sun at a location called Lagrange Point 1 (L1), which is 1 million miles closer to the Sun than the Earth. It is here that IMAP can scan every part of the heliosphere without any magnetic interference from the planets.
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Image Credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett
IMAP launches on a Space-X Falcon-9 two-stage rocket from Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral in Florida.
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IMAP Website
Keep checking in on this website! Besides more in-depth information about the mission and spacecraft, you can also watch IMAP being assembled LIVE in the IMAP cleanroom at Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab.
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