NASA has set a new target date for its Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP) spacecraft launch to no earlier than September 2025. The delay provides extra time for the mission’s flight systems preparations.
The IMAP mission will study the Sun’s magnetic bubble, known as the heliosphere, to better understand its protective boundary. The spacecraft will sample particles streaming towards Earth from interstellar space, helping researchers learn more about solar wind and cosmic rays in the heliosphere.
These particles can affect human explorers in space, harm technological systems, and may play a role in life’s presence in the universe. IMAP is just one of three spacecraft launching together on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
The two other spacecraft are NASA’s Carruthers Geocorona Observatory and NOAA’s Space Weather Follow On – Lagrange 1 mission, which will capture light from Earth’s geocorona and observe the Sun’s outer atmosphere to monitor space weather conditions.
Source: https://blogs.nasa.gov/imap/2024/12/20/nasa-targets-september-2025-launch-for-heliophysics-missions