NASA selects small explorer mission

Dolores Beasley/Gretchen Cook-Anderson
Headquarters, Washington January 26, 2005
(Phone: 202/358-1753/0836)

RELEASE: 05-026

NASA SELECTS SMALL EXPLORER MISSION

A satellite that will make the first map of the boundary between the
Solar
System and interstellar space has been selected as part of NASA's Small
Explorer
program. The Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) mission will be launched
in
2008.

IBEX is the first mission designed to detect the edge of the Solar System.
As the
solar wind from the sun flows out beyond Pluto, it collides with the
material
between the stars, forming a shock front. IBEX contains two neutral atom
imagers
designed to detect particles from the termination shock at the boundary
between
the Solar System and interstellar space.

IBEX also will study galactic cosmic rays, energetic particles from beyond
the
Solar System that pose a health and safety hazard for humans exploring
beyond
Earth orbit. IBEX will make these observations from a highly elliptical
orbit
that takes it beyond the interference of the Earth's magnetosphere. Dr.
David
McComas of Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio will lead IBEX. It
will
cost approximately $134 million. The Small Explorer program (SMEX) consists
of
rapid, small, and focused science exploration missions.

"Explorer missions continue to efficiently address NASA's objectives,
because of
the competitive character of the Explorer Program. Dr. McComas and his co-
investigators submitted a compelling proposal. It had sufficient details to
convince other independent scientists, engineers, technologists, cost
analysts,
and program managers this is an exciting and breakthrough experiment for
NASA to
sponsor," said NASA's Deputy Associate Administrator for the Science Mission
Directorate, Dr. Ghassem Asrar.

"The mission will continue the NASA Explorer Program's successful record of
scientific exploration of space over the past four decades, and it supports
the
Vision for Space Exploration," Asrar added.

NASA has decided to continue studying another proposed mission, the Nuclear
Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR). It is the first telescope capable of
detecting black holes in the local universe with 1,000 times more
sensitivity
than previous missions sensitive to energetic X-rays. A decision on
proceeding to
flight development with NuSTAR will be made by early 2006. Dr. Fiona
Harrison of
the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, Calif. is the Principal
Investigator for NuSTAR.

The Explorer Program is designed to provide frequent, low-cost access to
space
for physics and astronomy missions with small to mid-sized spacecraft. NASA
has
successfully launched six SMEX missions since 1992. The missions include the
Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager (RHESSI) launched in
February 2002, and the Galaxy Evolution Explorer launched in April 2003. The
next
SMEX mission is the Aeronomy of Ice in the Mesosphere (AIM) mission,
scheduled to
launch in September 2006. AIM will study the Earth's highest clouds for
clues to
climate change.

The selected proposals were among 29 SMEX and eight mission-of-opportunity
proposals submitted to NASA in May 2003. They were in response to an
Explorer
Program Announcement of Opportunity issued in February 2003. NASA selected
six
proposals in November 2003 for detailed feasibility studies.

Funded by NASA, up to $450,000 each, these studies focus on cost,
management, and
technical plans, including small business involvement and educational
outreach.
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md., manages the Explorer
Program
for the Science Mission Directorate.

For information and artist's concepts of these missions on the Internet,
visit:

IBEX: http://www.ibex.swri.edu/

NuSTAR: http://www.xraysmex.org/

For information about NASA's Explorer Program on the Internet, visit:

http://explorers.gsfc.nasa.gov/


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Jacques :-)

www.spacepatches.info