SMEX03-0006-0006

Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX)

David McComas (PI), Southwest Research Institute

The Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) has the sole objective of discovering the global interaction between the solar wind and the interstellar medium. IBEX achieves this objective by globally imaging Energetic Neutral Atoms (ENAs) that are produced by plasmas beyond the Termination Shock, the closest of the inferred interstellar boundaries at the outer edges of our heliosphere. These groundbreaking, high sensitivity ENA observations are achieved with minimal risk using two very large aperture ENA cameras on a simple sun-pointed, spinning spacecraft. IBEX’s highly elliptical Earth orbit provides viewing of the outer heliosphere from beyond the relatively bright emissions of the Earth’s magnetosphere. IBEX measurements enable the discovery of the global nature of the termination shock and the flow patterns of the heliosheath and the heliotail. IBEX also studies particle acceleration at the termination shock and probes the interstellar interaction beyond the heliopause. In short, the IBEX mission provides the first global views of the interstellar boundaries, unveiling the physics of the heliosphere’s interstellar interaction, providing a deeper understanding of the heliosphere and thereby astrospheres throughout the galaxy, creating the opportunity to make even greater unanticipated discoveries, and filling in a critical missing piece of understanding in the Sun-Earth Connection Theme.

McComas , David	Principal Investigator	Southwest Research Institute
Allegrini , Frederic	Collaborator	Southwest Research Institute
Bochsler , Peter	Co-Investigator	University of Bern
Bzowski , Maciej	Co-Investigator	Space Research Centre
Collier , Michael	Collaborator	NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center
Fahr , Hans	Co-Investigator	University of Bonn
Fichtner , Horst	Co-Investigator	Ruhr-Universitaet Bochum
Frisch , Priscilla	Co-Investigator	The University of Chicago
Funsten , Herbert	Co-Investigator	Los Alamos National Laboratory
Fuselier , Stephen	Co-Investigator	Lockheed Martin ATC
Gruntman , Mike	Co-Investigator	University of Southern California
Izmodenov , Vladislav	Co-Investigator	Moscow State University
Kalmbach , R.	Authorizing Official	Southwest Research Institute
Knappenberger , Paul	Co-Investigator	Adler Planetarium
Lee , Martin	Co-Investigator	University of New Hampshire
Livi , Stefano	Co-Investigator	Johns Hopkins University
Mitchell , Donald	Co-Investigator	Johns Hopkins University
Moebius , Eberhard	Co-Investigator	University of New Hampshire
Moore , Thomas	Co-Investigator	NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center
Reisenfeld , Daniel	Collaborator	Los Alamos National Laboratory
Roelof , Edmond	Co-Investigator	Johns Hopkins University
Scherrer , John	Project Manager	Southwest Research Institute
Schwadron , Nathan	Co-Investigator	Southwest Research Institute
Wieser , Martin	Collaborator	University of Bern
Witte , Manfred	Collaborator	MPI f.Aeronomie
Wurz , Peter	Co-Investigator	University of Bern
Zank , Gary	Co-Investigator	University of California, Riverside