IMAP Testing and Integration at Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab
NASA’s Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe, or IMAP, is embarking on its yearlong integration and testing campaign, during which all of the instruments and components will be added to the spacecraft structure, tested to ensure they will survive the harsh environments of launch and space, and made ready to execute its mission.
Slated to launch no earlier than September 2025, IMAP will map the boundaries of the heliosphere — the protective bubble surrounding the Sun and planets that is inflated by the constant stream of particles from the Sun called the solar wind.
Below are clips of IMAP’s testing and integration at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland.
Learn more about IMAP: https://science.nasa.gov/mission/imap/
Photo
The Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe is lifted off of the vibration table after completing vibration testing at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland.
Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Princeton/Ed Whitman
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The Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe is set on a work stand after completing separation and shock testing at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland.
Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Princeton/Ed Whitman
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Suzie Kellogg inspects the Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe on the vibration table before the start of vibration testing at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland.
Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Princeton/Ed Whitman
Photo
The Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe is lifted to the vibration table before the start of vibration testing at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland.
Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Princeton/Ed Whitman
Video
The Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe is placed on a mass properties machine for spin and balance testing at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland.
Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Princeton/Jim Harris
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IMAP’s Magnetometer (MAG) instrument is integrated onto the spacecraft.
Credit: NASA, Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory
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The Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe was lifted onto the mass properties machine for spin balancing tests in August 2024 at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland.
Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Princeton
Video
The Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe was lifted onto the mass properties machine for spin balancing tests in August 2024 at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland.
Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Princeton
Video
The Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe underwent spin balancing tests in August 2024 at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland.
Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Princeton
Video
The Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe spins at 70 revolutions per minute as it undergoes mass properties testing in August 2024 at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland.
Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Princeton
Credits
Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
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Support
- Joy Ng (eMITS)
Release date
This page was originally published on Wednesday, April 9, 2025.
This page was last updated on Wednesday, April 9, 2025 at 5:08 PM EDT.