The Inner Magnetosphere Explorer (IMEX) was selected as one of the first missions of the NASA University-Class Explorers Program.

The principal investigator is Professor John R. Wygant of the University of Minnesota.

[Mission]

[Personnel]

[Instruments]

[News Coverage]


IMEX Mission


IMEX Personnel

Principal Investigator
John Wygant University of Minnesota wygant@ham.space.umn.edu

Project Manager:
Keith Goetz University of Minnesota goetz@waves.space.umn.edu

Education and Outreach:
Cynthia Cattell University of Minnesota cattell@ham.space.umn.edu
Randi Quanbeck Minnesota Space Grant Consortium quanbeck@aem.umn.edu

Co-Investigators:
Cynthia Cattell University of Minnesota cattell@belka.space.umn.edu
Paul Kellogg University of Minnesota kellogg@waves.space.umn.edu
Keith Goetz University of Minnesota goetz@waves.space.umn.edu
Daniel Baker University of Colorado - Boulder baker@orion.colorado.edu
Xinlin Li University of Colorado - Boulder lix@kitron.colorado.edu
J. B. Blake Aerospace Corporation bernie_blake@qmail2.aero.org
James Clemmons Aerospace Corporation james.clemmons@aero.org
Joseph Fennell Aerospace Corporation joe.fennell@aero.org
Michael Coplan University of Maryland coplan@godzilla.umd.edu
John H. Moore University of Maryland moore@godzilla.umd.edu
James McFadden University of California - Berkeley mcfadden@ssl.berkeley.edu
Michael Temerin University of California - Berkeley temerin@ssl.berkeley.edu
Mario H. Acuna NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center mha@lepmom.gsfc.nasa.gov
Mary K. Hudson Dartmouth College maryk@comet.dartmouth.edu
Manuel Grande Rutherford Appleton Laboratory m.grande@rl.ac.uk
Cheri Morrow Space Science Institute camorrow@colorado.edu

Spacecraft Instruments and Information

(for more information check out the science section of the IMEX proposal)

  • FIELDS - University of Minnesota

    • double probe instrument measures DC to 20 Hz electric fields between .05-500 mV/m
    • samples up to 40 kHz electric fields in burst mode between .01-100 mV/m
    • search coils measure 1pT to 3nT magnetic fields in burst mode between 100 Hz and 20 kHz
    • Langmuir probe mode measures plasma density and temperature with 5 minute resolution
      (in addition to spacecraft potential measurements which measure thermal electron flux with 0.5 s resolution)

  • Fluxgate Magnetometer - Goddard Space Flight Center

    • provides up to 20 Hz magnetic field measurements from .016-64000 nT

  • HEPEX (High Energy Particle Experiment) - Aerospace Corporation

    • Ring Current Ion Sensor (RIS)

      • Magnetic spectrograph
      • measures 2D distributions of 30-500 keV hydrogen and 50-500 keV oxygen (also some measurements of helium) with 3 s resolution

    • Energetic Electron Spectrograph (EES)

      • Magnetic spectrograph
      • measures 2D distributions of 10 keV to 1.5 MeV electrons with 3 s resolution

    • Relativistic Electron Detectors (RED)

      • Set of 5 threshold sensors
      • measures omnidirectional flux of 2-15 MeV electrons (1 s resolution)
      • measures omnidirectional flux of 20-100 MeV protons (1 s resolution)

  • 3-D LEPA - UC Berkeley

    • Electrostatic analyzers
    • Measures 3D distributions of ~3 eV to 30 keV electrons and ions with spin period (~6 s) resolution

This is the latest concept for the design of the IMEX spacecraft (3/24/99).
The view shown here is the dark side of the spacecraft. The solar panels are on the sunlit side "underneath".
For more images, including a view of IMEX piggybacking on the Inertial Upper Stage, go here.


News Coverage of the IMEX Mission




Other IMEX Websites:


Magnetospheric Physics on the WWW:


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Last Updated : Feb 25, 1999

This page is maintained by Doug Rowland.