Key information
- NASA's IMAP spacecraft is now scheduled to launch no earlier than September 2025.
- IMAP will explore the heliosphere, analyzing and mapping particles from interstellar space that approach Earth.
- Two other spacecraft will be launched on shared missions with IMAP: the Carruthers Geocorona Observatory and NOAA's Space Weather Follow On – Lagrange 1 mission.
NASA's Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP) is now scheduled to launch no earlier than September 2025. This revised schedule allows for more time to finalize flight systems preparations before liftoff. The mission aims to explore the heliosphere, the protective magnetic bubble that surrounds our solar system, by analyzing and mapping particles from interstellar space that approach Earth. IMAP results will provide a better understanding of the composition and behavior of the solar wind, energetic particles and cosmic rays in this region. Understanding these phenomena is crucial because they can impact human exploration of space, technological systems, and perhaps even the existence of life in the universe.
Carpool missions
Besides IMAP, two other spacecraft will be launched on space rideshare missions. The Carruthers Geocorona Observatory, led by Lara Waldrop, a professor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, will study Earth's geocorona, the outermost layer of the atmosphere that emits ultraviolet light. Analyzing this light source will provide a better understanding of Earth's atmosphere and improve predictions of how solar activity may affect it. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Space Weather Follow On – Lagrange 1 mission, managed by NOAA, will observe the solar corona and measure the solar wind before it reaches Earth. This will help monitor the conditions that cause space weather phenomena.
In orbit at Lagrange point 1
All three spacecraft will orbit at Lagrange point 1, a gravitationally stable region about a million kilometers from Earth toward the Sun. Orbiting at this point requires minimal fuel consumption for spacecraft, making it an ideal location to observe the Sun and provide early warnings of approaching space weather. The IMAP spacecraft and its rideshare partners will launch together aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Space Station, Florida.
International team
The IMAP mission is led by David J. McComas, professor at Princeton University, and an international team of 25 partner institutions is collaborating on the project. The Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory builds and operates the spacecraft. IMAP is the fifth mission in NASA's Solar Terrestrial Probes program, managed by the Explorers and Heliophysics Project division at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.
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