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Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe

This project is associated with the future NASA mission called Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP). The main goal of this mission is to investigate acceleration of energetic particles and the interaction of the solar wind with the local interstellar medium. IBEX was the first spacecraft to study our local interstellar environment. It is a Sun-pointing spinning spacecraft orbiting the Earth, collecting energetic neutral atoms, and generating sky-maps. IMAP will be “parked” at the first Lagrange Point L1 away from the magnetosphere. IMAP and its star sensor have heritage from IBEX but with improved collection power and resolution. A Star Sensor is needed for precision pointing of the IMAP sensor/camera measuring interstellar neutrons. The Star Sensor uses a photomultiplier (PMT) and a “V” shaped aperture to generate a star map that relates to the spacecraft’s orientation in space. It will be equipped with UV filters to produce more accurate mapping data and filter out unwanted background light. My first objective in this project has been to mechanically adapt the Star Sensor design to accommodate the UV filters and assure that the design will be vacuum safe. My second objective is to test and calibrate the new star sensor to create reference pointing data.

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