Overview
- NASA confirmed the Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe started its primary science phase on Feb. 1 after completing commissioning.
- IMAP sits in orbit around Lagrange Point 1 about 1.5 million kilometers from Earth to maintain a stable, all-sky vantage.
- The spacecraft images energetic neutral atoms to infer conditions at the heliosphere boundary and will build comprehensive full-sky maps over time.
- Early ‘first light’ results from all ten instruments include clear, consistent ENA measurements across a wide energy range, mission leaders said.
- Selected observations now flow into the I-ALiRT system for near‑real‑time monitoring used by forecasters, with NOAA’s space weather center incorporating IMAP data in its updates.