The IMAP mission was planned to launch in the spring of 2025 to study the physics at the interface of solar and interstellar particles, as well as two accompanying missions to study space weather in near-Earth space. According to NASA’s findings, the IMAP mission had problems with payload readiness, so the launch was postponed to the fall of 2025. This is especially unfortunate since the most interesting processes occur during the period of maximum solar activity, which has already begun.
Artist’s representation of an IMAP probe. Image source: NASA
The IMAP (Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe) mission will create a map of the boundaries of the heliosphere, a kind of bubble formed by the solar wind. At the boundaries of this bubble, the solar wind collides with particles from interstellar space, which forms the heliopause – a buffer where interstellar particles slow down and lose some of their energy. Thus, the heliopause protects the solar system, creating a unique microclimate inside it.
The IMAP probe will operate from the L1 Lagrange point – located 1.5 million kilometers in front of the Earth, between it and the Sun. It will not fly to the boundaries of the solar system, like Voyagers, so the collection of scientific data will begin immediately after the device reaches its destination. Together with it, two more probes will fly on SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket as a companion load: the Carruthers Geocorona Observatory (formerly GLIDE – Global Lyman-alpha Imager of the Dynamic Exosphere) and SWFO (Space Weather Follow-On). These probes will observe the Earth and near-Earth space for operational monitoring of space weather.
Artistic representation of the solar system in a heliobubble
Space mission planning has become increasingly dependent on knowledge of space weather as humanity seeks to explore the far reaches of the solar system, leaving behind the umbrella of Earth and its magnetosphere that protects life on the planet. In this regard, the study of the Sun, solar wind and the impact of interstellar particles on the system acquires special significance, and any delays in the implementation of such projects are extremely undesirable.