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By NASA
3 Min Read NASA’s IMAP Arrives at NASA Marshall For Testing in XRCF
On March 18, NASA’s IMAP (Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe) arrived at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, for thermal vacuum testing at the X-ray and Cryogenic Facility, which simulates the harsh conditions of space.
The IMAP mission is a modern-day celestial cartographer that will map the solar system by studying the heliosphere, a giant bubble created by the Sun’s solar wind that surrounds our solar system and protects it from harmful interstellar radiation.
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NASA’s IMAP mission being loaded into the thermal vacuum chamber of NASA Marshall Space Flight Center’s X-Ray and Cryogenic Facility (XRCF) in Huntsville, Alabama. IMAP arrived at Marshall March 18 and was loaded into the chamber March 19.Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Princeton/Ed Whitman Testing performed in the X-ray and Cryogenic Facility will help to assess the spacecraft before its journey toward the Sun. The IMAP mission will orbit the Sun at a location called Lagrange Point 1 (L1), which is about one million miles from Earth towards the Sun. From this location, IMAP can measure the local solar wind and scan the distant heliosphere without background from planets and their magnetic fields. The mission will use its suite of ten instruments to map the boundary of the heliosphere, analyze the composition of interstellar particles that make it through, and investigate how particles change as they move through the solar system.
Furthermore, IMAP will maintain a continuous broadcast of near real-time space weather data from five instruments aboard IMAP that will be used to test new space weather prediction models and improve our understanding of effects impacting our human exploration of space.
Team members from Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, install IMAP into the XRCF’s chamber dome before the start of the thermal vacuum test. NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Princeton/Ed Whitman While inside the Marshall facility, the spacecraft will undergo dramatic temperature changes to simulate the environment during launch, on the journey toward the Sun, and at its final orbiting point. The testing facility has multiple capabilities including a large thermal vacuum chamber which simulates the harsh conditions of space such as extreme temperatures and the near-total absence of an atmosphere. Simulating these conditions before launch allow scientists and engineers to identify successes and potential failures in the design of the spacecraft.
Team members from Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama work to close the chamber door of the XRCF for IMAP testing. The chamber is 20 feet in diameter and 60 feet long making it one of the largest across NASA. NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Princeton/Ed Whitman “The X-ray and Cryogenic Facility was an ideal testing location for IMAP given the chamber’s size, availability, and ability to meet or exceed the required test parameters including strict contamination control, shroud temperature, and vacuum level,” said Jeff Kegley, chief of Marshall’s Science Test Branch.
The facility’s main chamber is 20 feet in diameter and 60 feet long, making it the 5th largest thermal vacuum chamber at NASA. It’s the only chamber that is adjoined to an ISO 6 cleanroom — a controlled environment that limits the number and size of airborne particles to minimize contamination.
The IMAP mission will launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, no earlier than September.
NASA’s IMAP mission was loaded into NASA Marshall’s XRCF thermal vacuum chamber where the spacecraft will undergo testing such as dramatic temperature changes to simulate the harsh environment of space. NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Princeton/Ed Whitman Learn More about IMAP Media Contact:
Lane Figueroa
Marshall Space Flight Center
Huntsville, Alabama
256.544.0034
lane.e.figueroa@nasa.gov
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Last Updated Apr 11, 2025 Related Terms
Marshall Space Flight Center Goddard Space Flight Center Heliophysics Marshall Heliophysics & Planetary Science Marshall Science Research & Projects Marshall X-Ray & Cryogenic Facility The Sun The Sun & Solar Physics Explore More
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By NASA
From left to right, NASA Marshall engineers Carlos Diaz and John Luke Bili, U.S. Naval Research Laboratory mechanical engineer contractor Eloise Stump, and Marshall engineers Tomasz Liz, David Banks, and Elise Doan observe StarBurst in the cleanroom environment before it’s unboxed from its shipping container. The cleanroom environment at Marshall is designed to minimize contamination and protect the observatory’s sensitive instruments. Image Credit: NASA /Daniel Kocevski StarBurst, a wide-field gamma ray observatory, arrived at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, March 4 for environmental testing and final instrument integration. The instrument is designed to detect the initial emission of short gamma-ray bursts, a key electromagnetic indicator of neutron star mergers.
“Gamma-ray bursts are among the most powerful explosions in the universe, and they serve as cosmic beacons that help us understand extreme physics, including black hole formation and the behavior of matter under extreme conditions,” said Dr. Daniel Kocevski, principal investigator of the StarBurst mission at NASA Marshall.
According to Kocevski, neutron star mergers are particularly exciting because they produce gamma-ray bursts and gravitational waves, meaning scientists can study these events using two different signals – light and ripples in space time.
Starburst Principal Investigator Dr. Daniel Kocevski, left, and Integration and Test Engineer Elise Doan, right, pose with the StarBurst instrument after it was unboxed in the cleanroom environment at NASA Marshall. The Naval Research Lab transferred the instrument to NASA in early March.Image Credit: NASA/Davy Haynes The merging of neutron stars forges heavy elements such as gold and platinum, revealing the origins of some of Earth’s building blocks.
“By studying these gamma-ray bursts and the neutron star mergers that produce them, we gain insights into fundamental physics, the origins of elements, and even the expansion of the universe,” Kocevski said. “Neutron star mergers and gamma-ray bursts are nature’s laboratories for testing our understanding of the cosmos.”
StarBurst will undergo flight vibration and thermal vacuum testing at Marshall in the Sunspot Thermal Vacuum Testing Facility. These tests ensure it can survive the rigors of launch and harsh environment of space.
Final instrument integration will happen in the Stray Light Facility, which is a specialized environment to help identify and reduce unwanted light in certain areas of the optical systems.
The StarBurst Multimessenger Pioneer is a wide-field gamma-ray observatory designed to detect the initial emission of short gamma-ray bursts, important electromagnetic indicators of neutron star mergers. With an effective area over five times that of the Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor and complete visibility of the unobscured sky, StarBurst will conduct sensitive observations. NASA/Daniel Kocevski StarBurst is a collaborative effort led by NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, with partnerships with the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, the University of Alabama Huntsville, the Universities Space Research Association, and the UTIAS Space Flight Laboratory. StarBurst was selected for development as part of the NASA Astrophysics Pioneers program, which supports lower-cost, smaller hardware missions to conduct compelling astrophysics science.
To learn more about StarBurst visit:
https://science.nasa.gov/mission/starburst/
Media Contact:
Lane Figueroa
Marshall Space Flight Center
Huntsville, Alabama
256.544.0034
lane.e.figueroa@nasa.gov
View the full article
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By NASA
2 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
A NASA F/A-18 research aircraft flies above California near NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, testing a commercial precision landing technology for future space missions. The Psionic Space Navigation Doppler Lidar (PSNDL) system is installed in a pod located under the right wing of the aircraft.NASA Nestled in a pod under an F/A-18 Hornet aircraft wing, flying above California, and traveling up to the speed of sound, NASA put a commercial sensor technology to the test. The flight tests demonstrated the sensor accuracy and navigation precision in challenging conditions, helping prepare the technology to land robots and astronauts on the Moon and Mars.
The Psionic Space Navigation Doppler Lidar (PSNDL) system is rooted in NASA technology that Psionic, Inc. of Hampton, Virginia, licensed and further developed. They miniaturized the NASA technology, added further functionality, and incorporated component redundancies that make it more rugged for spaceflight. The PSNDL navigation system also includes cameras and an inertial measurement unit to make it a complete navigation system capable of accurately determining a vehicle’s position and velocity for precision landing and other spaceflight applications.
NASA engineers and technicians install the Psionic Space Navigation Doppler Lidar (PSNDL) system into a testing pod on a NASA F/A-18 research aircraft ahead of February 2025 flight tests at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California.NASA The aircraft departed from NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, and conducted a variety of flight paths over several days in February 2025. It flew a large figure-8 loop and conducted several highly dynamic maneuvers over Death Valley, California, to collect navigation data at various altitudes, velocities, and orientations relevant for lunar and Mars entry and descent. Refurbished for these tests, the NASA F/A-18 pod can support critical data collection for other technologies and users at a low cost.
Doppler Lidar sensors provide a highly accurate measurement of speed by measuring the frequency shift between laser light emitted from the sensor reflected from the ground. Lidar are extremely useful in sunlight-challenged areas that may have long shadows and stark contrasts, such as the lunar South Pole. Pairing PSNDL with cameras adds the ability to visually compare pictures with surface reconnaissance maps of rocky terrain and navigate to landing at interesting locations on Mars. All the data is fed into a computer to make quick, real-time decisions to enable precise touchdowns at safe locations.
Psionic Space Navigation Doppler Lidar (PSNDL) system installed in a testing pod on a NASA F/A-18 research aircraft ahead of February 2025 flight tests at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California.NASA Since licensing NDL in 2016, Psionic has received funding and development support from NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate through its Small Business Innovative Research program and Tipping Point initiative. The company has also tested PSNDL prototypes on suborbital vehicles via the Flight Opportunities program. In 2024, onboard a commercial lunar lander, NASA successfully demonstrated the predecessor NDL system developed by the agency’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia.
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Last Updated Mar 26, 2025 EditorLoura Hall Related Terms
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