Subscribe free to our newsletters via your
. 24/7 Space News .




OUTER PLANETS
NASA Spacecraft Ready To Explore Outer Solar System
by Staff Writers
Washington DC (SPX) Oct 07, 2008


Artist's impression of IBEX's launch and deployment. Credit: NASA GSFC.

The first NASA spacecraft to image and map the dynamic interactions taking place where the hot solar wind slams into the cold expanse of space is ready for launch Oct. 19. The two-year mission will begin from the Kwajalein Atoll, a part of the Marshall Islands in the Pacific Ocean.

Called the Interstellar Boundary Explorer or IBEX, the spacecraft will conduct extremely high-altitude orbits above Earth to investigate and capture images of processes taking place at the farthest reaches of the solar system. Known as the interstellar boundary, this region marks where the solar system meets interstellar space.

"The interstellar boundary regions are critical because they shield us from the vast majority of dangerous galactic cosmic rays, which otherwise would penetrate into Earth's orbit and make human spaceflight much more dangerous," said David J. McComas, IBEX principal investigator and senior executive director of the Space Science and Engineering Division at the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio.

The story of the outer solar system began to unfold when the Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 spacecrafts left the inner solar system and headed out toward the boundary between our solar system and interstellar space.

"The Voyager spacecraft are making fascinating observations of the local conditions at two points beyond the termination shock that show totally unexpected results and challenge many of our notions about this important region," said McComas.

Other spacecraft have continued the exploration of the interstellar boundary region. Recently, a pair of NASA sun-focused satellites, the Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory mission, detected a higher-energy version of the particles IBEX will observe in the heliosphere. The heliosphere is an area that contains the solar wind. It stretches from the sun to a distance several times the orbit of Pluto.

IBEX is poised to thoroughly map this interstellar boundary region of the solar system. The images will allow scientists to understand the global interaction between our sun and the galaxy for the very first time.

IBEX will be launched aboard a Pegasus rocket dropped from under the wing of an L-1011 aircraft flying over the Pacific Ocean. The Pegasus will carry the spacecraft approximately 130 miles above Earth and place it in orbit.

"What makes the IBEX mission unique is that it has an extra kick during launch," said Willis Jenkins, IBEX program executive at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "An extra solid-state motor pushes the spacecraft further out of low-Earth orbit where the Pegasus launch vehicle leaves it."

The IBEX mission is the next in NASA's series of low-cost, rapidly developed Small Explorers spacecraft. NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., manages the Explorers Program for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The mission was developed by Southwest Research Institute with national and international partner participation.

.


Related Links
IBEX mission
The million outer planets of a star called Sol






Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle








OUTER PLANETS
Dawn Reaches It's First Anniversary
Los Angeles CA (SPX) Oct 01, 2008
On the first anniversary of its departure from Earth, Dawn continues with what it has been doing for most of its time in space: with the greatest patience it is gently reshaping its orbit around the Sun with its ion propulsion system. In its first year of travels, the spacecraft has thrust for a total of about 253 days, or 69% of the time. Dawn has been in powered flight for 85% of the ... read more


OUTER PLANETS
India to launch unmanned lunar mission this month

NASA's Dirty Secret: Moon Dust

NASA Challenges Students To Design Tools For Moon Rovers

A Lunar Dust Up Could Spell Trouble

OUTER PLANETS
An Opportunity For A Tour Will Be An Endeavour

Nicaraguan Volcano Provides Insight Into Early Mars

Mars Lander Sees Falling Snow, Soil Data Suggest Liquid Past

MRO Reveals Rock Fracture Plumbing On Mars

OUTER PLANETS
Japan May Throw Billions At Space Elevator Project

Rare Herbal Plants Aboard Shenzhou-7 Spacecraft Studied

International Space Station changes orbit awaiting tourist: report

Scientists working on space elevator

OUTER PLANETS
China Sets Sights On First Space Station

Analysis: China space launch raises fears

Emergency Rescue Vessels For Shenzhou-7 Spaceship Return

China hails spacewalk 'heroes' and sets eyes on moon

OUTER PLANETS
ISS Orbit Adjusted By Russian Progress Ship

Boeing Receives ISS Contract Extension

Europe's "space truck" heads for Pacific breakup

Russia's Space Agency Confirms 18th ISS Expedition

OUTER PLANETS
Arianespace Flight 186 Set For End Of November

GOCE Team Gearing Up For New Launch Date

Russia Launches Thai Satellite On Converted Missile

Sea Launch Successfully Delivers Galaxy 19 To Orbit

OUTER PLANETS
COROT Discovers Exotic Object

Worlds In Collision

US astronomers discover inter-planetary collision

NASA's Kepler Spacecraft Baked And Ready For More Tests

OUTER PLANETS
Clyde Space Delivers Battery Charge Controllers For RASAT

Coating may mean sleeker planes

New Robotic Repair System Will Fix Ailing Satellites

High-School Team Tracks Spacecraft Breakup




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2014 - Space Media Network. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement