Picture of the IMAGE mission patch
Click on image for full size
Image courtesy of NASA

Related links:

More information from the IMAGE homepage

NASA To IMAGE Magnetosphere
News story originally written on February 19, 1999

NASA plans to launch the Imager for Magnetopause-to-Aurora Global Exploration (IMAGE) to take pictures of the Earth's magnetosphere for the first time. The mission is set to launch on February 15, 2000.

IMAGE will be put into a very elliptical orbit around the Earth. At its closest approach, it will be 600 miles above the surface. It will then swing out to almost 27,000 miles above the surface. From this vantage point, instruments on the satellite will be able to view Earth's entire magnetosphere at once.

Until this mission, scientists have only been able to infer what the magnetosphere looks like. They only have been able to take measurements of it and of its influence, such as the aurora, on Earth's upper atmosphere. IMAGE will provide a new view for scientists to study.

"Every time you figure a new way to measure your environment," said Dr. Dennis Gallagher of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, "you see things you didn't think would be there. You learn. That's what research is about. You learn more about the environment in new ways."

You might also be interested in:

Traveling Nitrogen Classroom Activity Kit

Check out our online store - minerals, fossils, books, activities, jewelry, and household items!...more

The Earth's Magnetosphere

The Earth has a magnetic field with north and south poles. The magnetic field of the Earth is enclosed in a region surrounding the Earth called the magnetosphere. As the Earth rotates, its hot core generates...more

1999--A Year in Review...

It was another exciting and frustrating year for the space science program. It seemed that every step forward led to one backwards. Either way, NASA led the way to a great century of discovery. Unfortunately,...more

STS-95 Launch: "Let the wings of Discovery lift us on to the future."

The Space Shuttle Discovery lifted off from Kennedy Space Center at 2:19 p.m. EST, October 29th. The sky was clear and the weather was great as Discovery took 8 1/2 minutes to reach orbit for the Unitied...more

Moon Found Orbiting Asteroid

A moon was discovered orbiting the asteroid, Eugenia. This is only the second time in history that a satellite has been seen circling an asteroid. A special mirror allowed scientists to find the moon...more

U.S. is Fed Up with Russia

Will Russia ever put the service module for the International Space Station in space? NASA officials are demanding an answer from the Russian government. The necessary service module is currently waiting...more

More on Recent Coronal Mass Ejection

During a period of about two days in early May, 1998, the ACE spacecraft was immersed in plasma associated with a coronal mass ejection (CME). The SWICS instrument on ACE, which determines unambiguously...more

Mother Nature's Air Conditioning

J.S. Maini of the Canadian Forest Service has referred to forests as the "heart and lungs of the world." Forests reduce soil erosion, maintain water quality, contribute to atmospheric humidity and cloud...more

Windows to the Universe, a project of the National Earth Science Teachers Association, is sponsored in part is sponsored in part through grants from federal agencies (NASA and NOAA), and partnerships with affiliated organizations, including the American Geophysical Union, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the Earth System Information Partnership, the American Meteorological Society, the National Center for Science Education, and TERC. The American Geophysical Union and the American Geosciences Institute are Windows to the Universe Founding Partners. NESTA welcomes new Institutional Affiliates in support of our ongoing programs, as well as collaborations on new projects. Contact NESTA for more information. NASA ESIP NCSE HHMI AGU AGI AMS NOAA