TAI delivered a set of 10 of our Pyrolytic Graphite Sheet (PyroFlex®) Thermal Straps to Johns Hopkins University's Applied Physics Laboratory last month, destined for NASA's Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP) program.
Top Picture Credit - https://www.jhuapl.edu/work/projects/imap
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Pictured: 10 PyroFlex units wrapped in mylar sleeves and installed in shipping fixtures.
The lightweight, highly conductive straps, weighing in just over 100g and averaging 1.3 W/K per assembly, are used to cool two components on the IMAP spacecraft. The first, an instrument called IMAP-Lo (see below), and the second, an avionics box (IEM).
The IMAP Mission
Picture Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Princeton/Ed Whitman
"Set to launch in 2025, NASA’s Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP) mission will help researchers better understand what happens at the boundary of the heliosphere, where the Sun’s protective magnetic field ends. This boundary is where the solar wind collides with materials from interstellar space; these collisions protect our solar system from much of the hazardous cosmic radiation, and IMAP will study the particles that get through that protective shield. Designed, built, and operated by APL, IMAP will be positioned about one million miles from Earth (at what is called the first Lagrange point, or L1). Data from the mission will help to reveal how cosmic rays are filtered by the heliosphere, which will shed light on a number of research fields, from risks to astronaut health and space technology to the beginnings of life in the universe."
- Content Credit - https://www.jhuapl.edu/work/projects/imap
IMAP-Lo Instrument
IMAP-Lo is a single-pixel neutral atom imager that delivers energy and position measurements of low-energy Interstellar Neutral (ISN) atoms tracked over the ecliptic longitude >180° and global maps of energetic neutral atoms (ENAs). Mounted on a pivot platform, IMAP-Lo tracks the flow of these ions through the local interstellar medium (LISM) to precisely determine the species-dependent flow speed, temperature, and direction of the LISM that surrounds, interacts with, and determines the outer boundaries of the global heliosphere. IMAP-Lo uses the pivoting field of view (FOV) to view variable angles out to 90° from the spin axis. This assists IMAP-Lo to pinpoint the intersection between the ISN inflow speed and longitude to uniquely determine the LISM flow vector. Data from IMAP-Lo will help us be able to see from inside the heliosphere what it is like just outside the solar system, our local neighborhood.
- Content Credit - https://imap.princeton.edu/instruments/imap-lo
The team at TAI would like to thank JHU APL, Princeton, and NASA for their continued business, and we look forward to working with them again in the near future.
Stay tuned for more pictures and updates on IMAP and other space flight programs using our copper and graphite thermal strap products.