IMAGE
For other uses see Image (disambiguation).IMAGE (from
Imager for
Magnetopause-to-
Aurora
Global
Exploration), or
Explorer 78, was a
NASA MIDEX mission that studied the global response of the
Earth's
magnetosphere to changes in the
solar wind. It was launched
March 3,
2000 by a
Delta II rocket from
Vandenberg AFB and ceased operations in
December 2005.
The IMAGE craft was placed in a 1,000×46,000
km orbit around the Earth, with an
inclination of 90° (passing over the
poles) and a 14.2 hour period. IMAGE was the first spacecraft dedicated to observing the magnetosphere of the Earth, and it produced comprehensive global
images of
plasma in the inner magnetosphere. It did this using five
instruments:
*Neutral
Atom Imagers (LENA, MENA, HENA)
*Far-
Ultraviolet (FUV) Imaging System
*Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) Imager
*
Radio Plasma Imager (RPI)
*Central Instrument Data Processor (CIDP)
The CIDP as well as the Command & Data Handling Subsystem (main on-board computer) of the craft were built around the mission-proven
RAD6000 avionics processors.
*
IMAGE NASA page, with
tabular presentation of key spacecraft details*
Southwest Research Institute*
NSSDC Master Catalog information on the IMAGE mission
