<![CDATA[Gizmodo: ibex]]> http://tags.gizmodo.com/assets/base/img/thumbs140x140/gizmodo.com.png <![CDATA[Gizmodo: ibex]]> http://gizmodo.com/tag/ibex http://gizmodo.com/tag/ibex <![CDATA[IBEX Launches Today on Man's Most Depressing Space Mission Ever]]> The IBEX launch, which we previewed here at Gizmodo last Monday, went off without a hitch today. The ottoman-sized probe was strapped to a rocket that was strapped to the belly of an airplane, which carried it to 40,000 feet. From there, the rocket fired up and took IBEX to an orbit about 200,000 miles up. Fun! But it gets worse. Much worse. I hope everyone has their lead-lined fallout suits at the ready, because things could get a bit freaky in a few decades.

Now, just to summarize, before we get to the depressing part, the IBEX (Interstellar Boundary Explorer) was conceived to study the farthest reaches of our solar system. At the very edge is the termination shock, where the system ends, and deep space begins. Studying the unknown will always be cool, but it turns out the IBEX mission could also lead to a better understanding of our future doom.

The termination shock is also the point at which the sun's solar wind begins to taper off, and eventually end. Much like our atmosphere here on Earth, the solar wind protects the solar system from the deadly radiation that saturates deep space. It does this by hurling ions in every direction, at 1 million miles per hour, all the time. Scientists believe the solar wind stops about 90% of the radiation from reaching the planets housed within the termination shock.

The trouble is these winds have fallen to their weakest levels in 50 years. In the past 10 years, the wind's intensity weakened by about 25%. Why? Who knows. Hence, IBEX.

Said David McComas, IBEX chief scientist, "We don't believe we're in imminent danger, but we've only measured the solar wind for about 50 years." Reassuring, thy name be NASA. [Bloomberg]

]]> http://gizmodo.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5065677&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Nasa IBEX Probe to Go Where Only Voyager Has Gone Before]]> On October 19, NASA will launch the IBEX, or Interstellar Boundary Explorer, into a 130 mile earth orbit to begin mapping the very edge of our solar system. This region of space, also known by the kick ass scientific name "termination shock," is rife with mystery. Only the Voyager 1 and 2 spacecraft have ventured there, but they weren't armed with the right kind of tech to adequately catalog what's going on at the point where our solar system meets outer space. IBEX is, and from its orbit around our planet it will beam back some of the first detailed measurements of the region.

Unlike Voyager, IBEX's payload includes tech tailor made for measuring solar wind and creating a map of the void.

The satellite's payload will consist of two energetic neutral atom (ENA) imagers, IBEX-Hi and IBEX-Lo. Each of these sensors will consist of a collimator that will limit field of view, a conversion surface to convert neutral hydrogen and oxygen into ions, an electrostatic analyzer to suppress ultraviolet light and select ions of a specific energy range, and a detector to identify particle counts and the identity of each ion. IBEX-Hi will record particle counts at a higher energy band than IBEX-Lo. The payload will also include a Combined Electronics Unit (CEU) that will control the voltages on the collimator and ESA and will read and record data from the particle detectors of each sensor. — Wikipedia

[NASA via PopSci]

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