There are several key milestones we will be tracking tomorrow morning during launch coverage of NASA’s IMAP (Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe) observatory and its two rideshares, NASA’s Carruthers Geocorona Observatory, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Space Weather Follow-On Lagrange 1 (SWFO-L1) spacecraft. Time Events (all times are approximate): -00:38:00 SpaceX Launch […]
The U.S. Space Force’s 45th Weather Squadron predicts a 90% chance of favorable weather during tomorrow’s launch of NASA’s IMAP (Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe) mission. The primary weather concern is the cumulus cloud rule. SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket will launch NASA’s IMAP and its two rideshares no earlier than 7:30 a.m. EDT Wednesday, Sept. […]
The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, carrying NASA’s heliosphere and space weather science missions inside the payload fairing, was raised to vertical on Sept. 22, at Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASA’s IMAP (Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe) is the second flight of this booster. The first flight was KF-1, the […]
NASA and SpaceX are now targeting 7:30 a.m. EDT, Wednesday Sept. 24 for the launch of NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) space weather missions on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket at Launch Complex 39A from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida to allow more time for the recovery assets to arrive […]
NASA, SpaceX, and spacecraft mission managers are moving forward with the launch of the agency’s IMAP (Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe) mission to study space weather from the Sun and map the edges of our solar system. During the agency’s Launch Readiness Review, Dr. Denton Gibson, NASA’s launch director, and the launch team polled “go” […]
NASA’s IMAP (Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe) completed another step in a journey that will eventually take it about a million miles from Earth. Crews transported NASA’s newest space weather observatory and two rideshares from the Astrotech Space Operations payload processing facility in Titusville to a SpaceX hangar at nearby Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s […]
Technicians continue preparing NASA’s IMAP (Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe) mission for its upcoming launch. The team moved the observatory to the clean room where they loaded propellant into the spacecraft at the Astrotech Space Operations Facility near NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Technicians loaded more than 317 pounds (or 144 kilograms) of hydrazine […]
The heliosphere, the magnetic bubble inflated by the solar wind protecting our solar system, holds clues to understanding how life on Earth is possible. Unlocking these mysteries has global implications, making international collaboration both invaluable and essential. NASA’s Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP) mission, launching no earlier than September 2025, embraces this global perspective […]
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Space Weather Follow On–Lagrange 1 (SWFO-L1) Observatory, set to provide quicker and more accurate space weather forecasts, arrived on July 20 at the Astrotech Space Operations Facility near NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Technicians will process the spacecraft and ready it for launch alongside two NASA observatories, […]
Technicians offloaded NASA’s Carruthers Geocorona Observatory following arrival on July 20 at the Astrotech Space Operations Facility near the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Workers drove the spacecraft from a BAE Systems facility in Colorado, where teams built the spacecraft bus and integrated instruments at the Space Sciences Laboratory at UC Berkely in California. […]
