The IMAP mission launches from Earth and arrives at L1. From this vantage point, the spacecraft uses 10 instruments to study how the solar wind interacts with the interstellar medium and how energetic particles are accelerated in space.
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The IMAP spacecraft launches from Cape Canaveral, Florida, to space. The mission is situated at the first Earth-Sun Lagrange point (L1), at around one million miles from Earth toward the Sun.
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The mission is situated at the first Earth-Sun Lagrange point (L1), at around one million miles from Earth toward the Sun.Credit: Princeton/Patrick McPike", "width": 1920, "height": 1080, "pixels": 2073600 } } ], "extra_data": {} } ], "studio": "gms", "funding_sources": [ "PAO" ], "credits": [ { "role": "Data visualizer", "people": [ { "name": "Tom Bridgman", "employer": "Global Science and Technology, Inc." } ] }, { "role": "Animator", "people": [ { "name": "Patrick McPike", "employer": null } ] }, { "role": "Producer", "people": [ { "name": "Joy Ng", "employer": "eMITS" } ] }, { "role": "Technical support", "people": [ { "name": "Aaron E. Lepsch", "employer": "ADNET Systems, Inc." } ] } ], "missions": [], "series": [], "tapes": [], "papers": [], "datasets": [], "nasa_science_categories": [ "Sun" ], "keywords": [ "Imap", "L1", "Lagrange Points" ], "recommended_pages": [], "related": [ { "id": 14957, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/14957/", "page_type": "Produced Video", "title": "IMAP Arrives at L1", "description": "NASA’s IMAP (Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe) reached its destination at Lagrange point 1, or L1, approximately 1 million miles from Earth toward the Sun on Jan. 10, 2026.The mission’s operations team sent commands to the spacecraft on the morning of Jan. 9 to begin trajectory maneuvers to enter orbit at L1. Early on the morning of Jan. 10, the team confirmed the spacecraft had successfully entered its final L1 orbit, where it will stay for the duration of its mission.From L1, IMAP will explore and map the very boundaries of our heliosphere — the protective bubble created by the solar wind that encapsulates our entire solar system — and study how the heliosphere interacts with the local galactic neighborhood beyond.Learn more about the milestone: https://science.nasa.gov/blogs/imap/2026/01/12/nasas-imap-mission-reaches-its-destination/ || ", "release_date": "2026-01-27T10:00:00-05:00", "update_date": "2025-02-18T10:38:59.752697-05:00", "main_image": { "id": 1196139, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014900/a014957/26-01422_011026_IMAP_arrival_at_L1-2-19_copy.jpeg", "filename": "26-01422_011026_IMAP_arrival_at_L1-2-19_copy.jpeg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "PhotoOn Jan. 10, flight controllers and spacecraft team members celebrate in the Mission Operations Center at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland, as IMAP completes the last of the maneuvers to position itself in orbit around L1. Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Princeton/Ed Whitman", "width": 2000, "height": 1334, "pixels": 2668000 } }, { "id": 20410, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/20410/", "page_type": "Animation", "title": "IMAP Beauty Passes", "description": "NASA’s IMAP (Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe) will explore and map the very boundaries of our heliosphere — a huge bubble created by the Sun's wind that encapsulates our entire solar system — and study how the heliosphere interacts with the local galactic neighborhood beyond.As a modern-day celestial cartographer, IMAP will also explore and chart the vast range of particles in interplanetary space, helping to investigate two of the most important overarching issues in heliophysics — the energization of charged particles from the Sun, and the interaction of the solar wind at its boundary with interstellar space. Additionally, IMAP will support real-time observations of the solar wind and energetic particles, which can produce hazardous conditions in the space environment near Earth. The IMAP spacecraft will be located at Lagrange Point 1, or L1. Lagrange points are positions in space where objects sent there tend to stay put. At L1, which is around 1 million miles from Earth towards the Sun, the gravitational pull of the Sun and Earth are balanced, allowing spacecraft to reduce fuel consumption needed to remain in position. At L1, IMAP will have a clear view of the heliosphere and will also be positioned to provide advanced warning of incoming solar storms headed to Earth. Learn more about IMAP.Below are conceptual animations highlighting the IMAP spacecraft. || ", "release_date": "2025-08-14T00:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2025-09-17T16:58:27.554849-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 1158444, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a020000/a020400/a020410/20410_IMAP_5k_Spin_NoLogo_2-002.00001_print.jpg", "filename": "20410_IMAP_5k_Spin_NoLogo_2-002.00001_print.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Conceptual AnimationThe IMAP spacecraft, located at Lagrange Point 1, spins at four revolutions per minute as it surveys the heliosphere.Credit: NASA/Princeton/Patrick McPike", "width": 1024, "height": 576, "pixels": 589824 } }, { "id": 14873, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/14873/", "page_type": "Produced Video", "title": "Lagrange Point 1 Animation", "description": "Lagrange points are positions in space where objects sent there tend to stay put. At Lagrange points, the gravitational pull of two large masses precisely equals the centripetal force required for a small object to move with them. These points in space can be used by spacecraft to reduce fuel consumption needed to remain in position.Of the five Lagrange points, three are unstable and two are stable. The unstable Lagrange points - labeled L1, L2 and L3 - lie along the line connecting the two large masses. The stable Lagrange points - labeled L4 and L5 - form the apex of two equilateral triangles that have the large masses at their vertices. L4 leads the orbit of earth and L5 follows.The L1 point of the Earth-Sun system affords an uninterrupted view of the Sun and will be home to three new heliophysics missions in 2025 - NASA's Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP), NASA's Carruthers Geocorona Observatory, and NOAA's Space Weather Follow On-Lagrange 1 (SWFO-L1). || ", "release_date": "2025-07-22T17:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2025-07-22T17:09:38.635832-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 1157200, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014800/a014873/14873_LagrangePoint1_H264.00001_print.jpg", "filename": "14873_LagrangePoint1_H264.00001_print.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Credit: NASA's Conceptual Image Lab/Krystofer Kim", "width": 1024, "height": 561, "pixels": 574464 } }, { "id": 5567, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/5567/", "page_type": "Visualization", "title": "New Missions to L1", "description": "Three missions, Carruthers, IMAP and SWFO-L1 will be launched to the Sun-Earth Lagrange Point, L1.", "release_date": "2025-07-21T18:59:59-04:00", "update_date": "2025-07-11T10:20:17.384003-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 1156845, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a005500/a005567/Geospace2025.New2L1.GSE.RE.clockSlate_CRTT.HD1080.00900.jpg", "filename": "Geospace2025.New2L1.GSE.RE.clockSlate_CRTT.HD1080.00900.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "A visualization depicting 3 missions: SWFO, IMAP, and Carruthers' orbits. The Earth and its magnetosphere are depicted at the left of the visualization, and there is a large arrow pointing to the right. The missions orbits are all centered at a point on the arrow, which is marked with a large plus shape, and labeled \"L1\".", "width": 1920, "height": 1080, "pixels": 2073600 } }, { "id": 14811, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/14811/", "page_type": "Produced Video", "title": "IMAP: Mapping The Heliosphere & Sun", "description": "The Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe, or IMAP, will explore and map the very boundaries of our heliosphere — a huge bubble created by the Sun's wind that encapsulates our entire solar system — and study how the heliosphere interacts with the local galactic neighborhood beyond.The mission’s investigation of the boundaries of the heliosphere will be primarily done with energetic neutral atoms, or ENAs. An ENA is a type of uncharged particle formed when an energetic positively charged ion runs into a slow-moving neutral atom. The ion picks up an extra negatively charged electron in the collision, making it neutral — hence the name energetic neutral atom. This process frequently happens wherever there is plasma in space, such as throughout the heliosphere, including its boundary.The IMAP-Lo, IMAP-HI, and IMAP-Ultra instruments on IMAP are imaging the energies and composition of ENAs.Learn more about IMAP: https://science.nasa.gov/mission/imap/ || ", "release_date": "2025-04-02T00:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2025-12-11T13:45:55.604580-05:00", "main_image": { "id": 1195041, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014800/a014811/14811_IMAP_ScanningFOV2_H264.00001_print.jpg", "filename": "14811_IMAP_ScanningFOV2_H264.00001_print.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Conceptual AnimationThe IMAP spacecraft consists of 10 instruments monitor space weather and study and map the heliosphere, a vast magnetic bubble surrounding the Sun protecting our solar system from radiation. Credit: NASA/Princeton/Patrick McPike", "width": 1024, "height": 576, "pixels": 589824 } } ], "sources": [], "products": [ { "id": 14895, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/14895/", "page_type": "Produced Video", "title": "Mapping the Boundaries of Our Home in Space with NASA’s IMAP Mission", "description": "NASA’s new Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe, or IMAP, will explore and map the very boundaries of our heliosphere — a huge bubble created by the Sun's wind that encapsulates our solar system — and study how that boundary interacts with the local galactic neighborhood beyond.As a modern-day celestial cartographer, IMAP will chart the vast range of particles in interplanetary space, helping to investigate two of the most important overarching issues in heliophysics — the energization of charged particles from the Sun, and the interaction of the solar wind with interstellar space. Additionally, IMAP will support near real-time observations of the solar wind and energetic particles, which can produce hazardous conditions in the space environment near Earth. IMAP is launching no earlier than Sept. 23, 2025, aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.Learn more about IMAP science: https://science.nasa.gov/missions/nasas-imap-mission-to-study-boundaries-of-our-home-in-space/Find out more about the IMAP mission: https://science.nasa.gov/mission/imap/ || ", "release_date": "2025-09-17T10:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2025-09-15T14:21:58.200579-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 1158230, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014800/a014895/14895_Thumbnail.jpg", "filename": "14895_Thumbnail.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Produced VideoWatch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.Complete transcript available.Music credit: \"Soaring Dreams” by Klas Johan Wahl and Anders Paul Niska [STIM], “Electric Works” by Philippe Lhommet [SACEM], and “Mercurial Temperment” by Christian Telfold [ASCAP] from Universal Production Music", "width": 1280, "height": 720, "pixels": 921600 } } ], "newer_versions": [], "older_versions": [], "alternate_versions": [] }