NASA’s new mission. IMAP probe will explore the outskirts of the solar system
NASA’s new mission. IMAP probe will explore the outskirts of the solar system
NASA has announced plans for a new mission dubbed IMAP, which will study how particles arriving from interstellar space interact with our sun‘s protective shield – the heliosphere. The launch is expected in 2024.
A few days ago, NASA announced the selection of a new scientific mission. IMAP (Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe) will prob has analyzed, analyzed and mapped the flux of charged particles from interstellar space interacting with the heliosphere.
The mission will help scientists better understand and understand the behavior of the solar wind itself and the boundary of the heliosphere – ktora is a type of magnetic „bubble” produced by the sun surrounding and protecting our solar system.
The heliosphere is called the area wokoĊ of the Sun, where the solar wind pressure prevails over the wind pressureoin the galactic. The already mentioned „bubble” matter ejected by the Sun covers all the planets and most of the minor bodies in the Solar System and protects them from harmful cosmic radiation by blocking high-energy particles, ktore formed in interstellar space.
At the boundary of the heliosphere, the solar wind loses its speed, and the wind pressureoThe pressure of the solar wind begins to prevail in the galactic. This boundary is called the heliopause, and it is these regions that IMAP will study. This is where the solar wind collides with cosmic radiation. However, not all particles from interstellar space are stopped. Some of them penetrate into our planetary system, and here IMAP has room to grow.
– IMAP is crucial to expanding our knowledge of how it works "cosmic filter" produced by the sun’s. The implications of this study could go very far, especially when we want to send people into space – Dennis Andrucyk of NASA said.
Another goal of the mission is to gain knowledge about cosmic rays in the heliosphere. Cosmic rays, zaroBoth those from the galaxy and beyond affect the human body and could significantly hamper space exploration in the future. They can also harm technological systems and probably play a role when it comes to the presence of life itself in the Universe.
The IMAP probe will be placed at a distance of about 1.5 million kilometersow from the Earth toward the Sun at a point called the first Lagrange'a point or L1. There will be ten instruments aboard the spacecraftoin scientific probing of incoming particles.
The mission was chosen based on the conclusionoIn the applications submitted as recently as last year. The budget planned for the mission is $492 millionow excluding the cost ofoat the start of the.
