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News: Recently, NASA launched Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP) with two co-launched missions on a Falcon 9 to study space weather and its impacts.
About Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP)
- It is a pioneering heliophysics mission launched to investigate the boundaries of the solar system and the energetic processes shaping our local space environment.
- Launched by : NASA
- Goal: Its goal is to map the heliosphere’s boundary, trace energetic particles, and improve space weather forecasting.
- Positioned at: IMAP is stationed at the Sun–Earth Lagrange point L1, about one million miles from Earth toward the Sun.
- Key features
- Payload: Ten instruments chart particles from the Sun, heliosphere boundary, and interstellar space.
- Real-time solar wind and energetic particle observations with ~30-minute radiation warnings near Earth.
- IMAP Active Link for Real-Time frequently broadcasts reliable data for improved forecasting.
- Takes 108 days to reach L1 and provides an unobstructed view of solar activity.
- Maps the heliosphere in greater detail than before, across a wider energy range and more frequently than Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX).
- It will support Artemis II in 2026 and strengthens long-term human exploration plans for Mars.
