IMP-8 Project Information

Image of IMP-8 prior to launch IMP-8 (IMP-J) was launched by NASA on October 26, 1973 to measure the magnetic fields, plasmas, and energetic charged particles (e.g., cosmic rays) of the Earth's magnetotail and magnetosheath and of the near-Earth solar wind. IMP-8, the last of ten IMP (Interplanetary Monitoring Platform) or AIMP (Anchored-IMP) spacecraft launched in 10 years, continues to operate to this day in its near-circular, 35 Earth Radii, 12-day orbit. It is an important adjunct to the International Solar Terrestrial Physics program, provides in-ecliptic, one Astronomical Unit baseline data for the deep space Voyager and Ulysses missions, and continues to accumulate a long-timeseries database useful in understanding long-term solar processes.

DATA ACCESS PATHWAYS*
Instruments PI site CDAWeb OMNIWeb FTPBrowser Anon/FTP
Magnetometer PI cdaweb omniweb FTPBrowser FTP
Plasma
LANL PI

FTPHelper Anon/FTP
MIT PI cdaweb omniweb FTPBrowser Anon/FTP
IOWA PI

FTPBrowser Anon/FTP
Particles
U. Maryland PI


Anon/FTP
JHU/APL-EPE PI


Anon/FTP
JHU/APL-CPME PI
omniweb
Anon/FTP
U. Chicago PI

FTPBrowser Anon/FTP
GSFC PI cdaweb


Other
CPME at Kansas PI



Field, Plasma at UCLA PI



(*) CDAWeb, OMNIWeb, FTPBrowser - data browse and retrieve; Anon/FTP - download data files; PI - Principal Investigator site

Additional IMP-8 Spacecraft Information and Tools

* General Information
* Hourly resolution geocentric position information (from JHU/APL)
* Finding IMP in the sky after 20 years
* Solar Wind and Magnetosphere Residence Times
* Bow Shock Crossings
* Heliocentric Positions of IMP/Earth System
* MIDL web-based software for accessing and analyzing data at JHU/APL

Information on Field and Plasma Investigations

* Magnetometer (GSFC, Lepping)
* Solar Wind Plasma (MIT Faraday Cup, Lazarus)
* Solar Wind Plasma (LANL Electrostatic Analyzer, Gosling)
* Magnetospheric Plasma (U. Iowa LEPEDEA, Frank)
* Electric/Magnetic Waves (U. Iowa, Gurnett)

Information on Energetic Particle Investigations

* Solid-State Detectors (U. Maryland, Ipavich)
* Charged Particles Measurement Experiment (JHU/APL, Decker)
* Solar and Cosmic-Ray Particles (GSFC, McGuire)
* Cosmic Ray Nuclear Composition (U. Chicago, Lopate)
* Electrons and Hydrogen and Helium Isotopes (Cal. Tech., Stone)
* Energetic Electrons and Protons (JHU/APL, Williams)
*IMP-8 Bibliography 1996-2000

* Information on Earlier IMP Spacecraft

* SPDF Space Physics page

If you have any comments about IMP-8 service, contact: Dr. Natalia Papitashvili, natalia.e.papitashvili@nasa.gov, Mail Code 672, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD 20771 USA
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NASA Official: Dr. Robert McGuire, Head of the Space Physics Data Facility