NASA has announce it is planning to set up a mission in 2024 that will study how incoming atom from interstellar space interact with our Sun ’s protective bubble .
The $ 500 - million mission is called the Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe ( IMAP ) , and it will be placed 1.5 million kilometers ( 1 million knot ) from Earth in a region known as Lagrange compass point 1 ( L1 ) . This is an region of gravitative stability where the Sun and Earth ’s gravity sort of cancel out .
position here , the spacecraft will be tax with meditate the heliosphere . This is abubble of charged particlesand magnetic fields created by the Sun , which extends far out into the Solar System .
At the point where the heliosphere meet interstellar quad , known as the heliopause and the bow shock , the charged atom collide with incoming cosmic radiation therapy . Not all are stopped , however , and some make their way into the Solar System – which will be studied by IMAP .
“ This boundary is where our Sun does a great pot to protect us , ” Dennis Andrucyk , deputy associate administrator for NASA ’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington , said in astatement . “ IMAP is vital to broadening our reason of how this ‘ cosmic filter ’ works . ”
On board the space vehicle will be 10 scientific instruments to probe these incoming mote . These will includecosmic rays , stream of particles that can have import for the wellness of humans and spacecraft .
“ The logical implication of this research could get hold of well beyond the consideration of Earthly impacts as we look to send humans into cryptical space , ” Andrucyk tote up .
While IMAP will be staying relatively near Earth , we have in reality sent several spacecraft out through the heliosphere before . The Voyager 1 and 2 probes , launched in 1977 , have both crossed the edge into the heliopause , with the former having now accomplish interstellar space .
Voyager 1 has given us our first readings showing the Sun ’s influence out into interstellar space , which is pretty nerveless . Data from the spacecraft has shown us that thedirection of the magnetic field changesat the boundary with interstellar space , possibly as a result of the solar wind . It is not expected to be really out of the solar wind ’s influence until 2025 .
IMAP will hopefully tell us more about what ’s getting through this barrier , though , and give us a clearer picture of what our Sun ’s house of cards really look like .
