NASA Selects SwRI Proposal To Study Interstellar Boundary

[Shyriath]

http://www.spacedaily.com/news/stellar-03c.html

San Antonio - Nov 13, 2003
NASA has selected a proposal by Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) to examine the feasibility of a mission to study the interstellar boundary, the region between our solar system and interstellar space. The proposal is one of five candidates vying for two mission slots in NASA's Explorer Program of low cost, rapidly developed scientific spacecraft.

The Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) mission led by SwRI would launch a pair of energetic neutral atom (ENA) "cameras" to image the interaction between the solar system and the low-density material between the stars, the interstellar medium -- an interaction that has never been directly observed before.

"Using energetic neutral atom imaging, IBEX would see the global interactions between the solar wind and interstellar medium for the first time," says Principal Investigator Dr. David J. McComas, who also serves as executive director of the SwRI Space Science and Engineering Division. "This would give us a much deeper understanding of the Sun's -- our star's -- interaction with the galaxy," he says.

[el_gato]

1. last time i was at the ISB they had dollar beer all night