NASA’s IMAP (Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe) will help researchers better understand the boundary of the heliosphere, a vast magnetic bubble created by the Sun surrounding and protecting our solar system from harmful radiation across the galaxy. The heliosphere consists of the continual flow of energetic particles from the Sun, known as solar wind, as […]
Online coverage is underway for this morning’s launch of NASA’s IMAP (Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe), Carruthers Geocorona Observatory, and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Space Weather Follow – On Lagrange 1 (SWFO-L1) satellite. NASA’s IMAP will use 10 science instruments to study and map the heliosphere, a vast magnetic bubble surrounding the Sun […]
NASA will have live launch coverage of NASA’s Carruthers Geocorona Observatory on the agency’s IMAP blog: science.nasa.gov/blogs/imap
There are several key milestones we will be tracking tomorrow morning during launch coverage of NASA’s IMAP (Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe) observatory and its two rideshares, NASA’s Carruthers Geocorona Observatory, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Space Weather Follow-On Lagrange 1 (SWFO-L1) spacecraft. Time Events (all times are approximate): -00:38:00 SpaceX Launch […]
The U.S. Space Force’s 45th Weather Squadron predicts a 90% chance of favorable weather during tomorrow’s launch of NASA’s IMAP (Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe) mission. The primary weather concern is the cumulus cloud rule. SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket will launch NASA’s IMAP and its two rideshares no earlier than 7:30 a.m. EDT Wednesday, Sept. […]
The Expedition 73 crew members explored how exercise in space affects the body, conducted an eye exam, and continued upgrading computer networking gear aboard the International Space Station on Tuesday. The orbital residents also transferred emergency gear into the SpaceX Dragon crew spacecraft, maintained life support equipment, and continued unpacking a Progress resupply ship.
NASA continues to study how autonomy will assist future exploration to the Moon, Mars, and other worlds. As exploration continues to evolve, future spacecraft swarms will one day “see” and communicate with each other autonomously, navigating new destinations more efficiently. The success of NASA’s Starling mission extension, called Starling 1.5+, shows greater autonomy in space […]
At 12:56 p.m. EDT on Tuesday, Sept. 23, NASA’s OSIRIS-APEX (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security – Apophis Explorer) spacecraft will fly within about 2,100 miles (3,400 kilometers) of Earth. Passing about 100 times closer to Earth than the Moon’s orbit, the spacecraft will perform a gravity assist maneuver to alter the spacecraft’s direction […]
The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, carrying NASA’s heliosphere and space weather science missions inside the payload fairing, was raised to vertical on Sept. 22, at Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASA’s IMAP (Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe) is the second flight of this booster. The first flight was KF-1, the […]
NASA’s twin ESCAPADE (Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers) spacecraft are back in Florida in preparation for launch this fall. The two spacecraft are destined to orbit Mars, where they will study the structure of the Martian magnetic field, how it interacts with space weather, and how this interaction drives the planet’s atmospheric escape. […]
