A triple threat of spacecraft will launch later this month to study the influence of the Sun that causes space weather events on Earth and in orbit, leading to advanced warning and a better understanding of our star.

Nicola Fox, associate administrator for NASA ’s Science Mission Directorate, said the Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP) will be a key piece to solving a long-standing heliophysics "puzzle" of the Sun’s influence on our solar system.

Positioned 1 million miles from Earth at Lagrange point 1, IMAP will use 10 instruments to measure the heliosphere’s outer boundary every 15 seconds.

IMAP will have company in this orbit with NOAA ’s new Space Weather Follow On (SWFO) spacecraft, the agency’s first dedicated space weather satellite. IMAP and SWFO are also launch

See Full Page