HR: 10:20h
AN: SH12B-01 INVITED    [Abstracts]
TI: The Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) -- Half a Year to Launch!
AU: * Schwadron, N A
EM: nathanas@bu.edu
AF: Boston University, Department of Astronomy, Center for Space Physics, Center for Integrated Spaceweather Modeling, 725 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA 02215, United States
AU: McComas, D J
EM: dmccomas@swri.edu
AF: Southwest Research Institute, P.O. Drawer 28510, San Antonio, TX 78228-0510, United States
AB: *On behalf of the IBEX Science and Mission Teams Recent observations by Voyagers 1&2 in the vicinity of the termination shock and inner heliosheath, along with renewed vigor in theoretical and computational work, make this an incredibly exciting time in the study of the heliosphere's interaction with the local interstellar medium. By their very nature, however, Voyager observations measure only the local properties in the vicinity of the two spacecraft, often raising as many questions about the global configuration and structure of the heliospheric interaction as they answer. Fortunately, the Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) mission will launch in mid-2008 and provide the first global views of the interstellar interactions at the edge of our heliosphere. IBEX will make these complementary global observations using two ultra-high sensitivity single pixel energetic neutral atom (ENA) cameras that image ENAs from 10 eV -- 6 keV in 14 energy bins. The IBEX spacecraft is a simple sun-pointed spinner, which allows the ENA cameras to sweep out full sky views of the heliospheric interaction every six months. IBEX will also be the first spacecraft to achieve a very high apogee (~50 R_E) Earth orbit starting with a standard Pegasus launcher. IBEX's highly elliptical Earth orbit allows viewing of the outer heliosphere from beyond the Earth's relatively bright magnetospheric ENA emissions. This talk provides an overview of the IBEX mission, the science data products and their access, and updates the community on our status only half a year out from launch!
UR: http://ibex.swri.edu
DE: 2124 Heliopause and solar wind termination
DE: 2126 Heliosphere/interstellar medium interactions
DE: 2144 Interstellar gas
DE: 2151 Neutral particles (7837)
DE: 2194 Instruments and techniques
SC: SPA-Solar and Heliospheric Physics [SH]
MN: 2007 Fall Meeting