IBEX

[michaelmozina]

<p>http://www.ibex.swri.edu/researchers/index.shtml</p>http://www.spaceref.com/video/<p>I'm curious what others think about the importance of this specific program to our understanding of space?&nbsp; IMO this project is criticially important to understanding the interaction between our sun and the heliosphere, and the rest of interstellar space.&nbsp; I'm *really* looking foward to seeing these images, particularly in a planarium setting. &nbsp; I'm almost giddy. </p><p>It might be highly interesting for us all to make a few key "predictions" about what we are likely to discover from this program.&nbsp;&nbsp; Some of the first observations are mentioned on the website.&nbsp; Very interesting stuff IMO. </p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> It seems to be a natural consequence of our points of view to assume that the whole of space is filled with electrons and flying electric ions of all kinds. - Kristian Birkeland </div>

 

[UFmbutler]

I don't really know enough of the details to say anything other than it sounds important and should provide some pretty interesting results.&nbsp; One of the guys I worked with in Los Alamos two summers ago was responsible for testing some of the detectors on that thing.&nbsp; This was getting pretty close to the deadline and he practically lived at the lab for weeks and he'd frequently complain about how poorly the engineers put this thing together originally.&nbsp; He was doing a test on it and one of the screws just popped off apparently.&nbsp; I guess that's why NASA pays people to figure out all the possible ways that a thing could break...lets just hope they caught everything and it doesn't fall apart after it's launched &nbsp; Sadly, he was let go as soon as he completed that project(side story:&nbsp; if you are foreign(he was Canadian) and want to work for NASA, don't expect to be kept around longer than a couple years at a time) <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[michaelmozina]

<p><BR/>Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'>I don't really know enough of the details to say anything other than it sounds important and should provide some pretty interesting results.&nbsp; One of the guys I worked with in Los Alamos two summers ago was responsible for testing some of the detectors on that thing.&nbsp; This was getting pretty close to the deadline and he practically lived at the lab for weeks and he'd frequently complain about how poorly the engineers put this thing together originally.&nbsp; He was doing a test on it and one of the screws just popped off apparently.&nbsp; I guess that's why NASA pays people to figure out all the possible ways that a thing could break...lets just hope they caught everything and it doesn't fall apart after it's launched &nbsp; Sadly, he was let go as soon as he completed that project(side story:&nbsp; if you are foreign(he was Canadian) and want to work for NASA, don't expect to be kept around longer than a couple years at a time) <br /> Posted by UFmbutler</DIV></p><p>Well, evidently it is doing well so far and it is returning data.&nbsp; It seems to me that while we understand the evironment of interplanetatry space with some degree of accuracy, what we know about interstellar space, and how it interacts with the heliosphere is still very limited.&nbsp; I'll be very interested to see the movie when it comes out. </p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> It seems to be a natural consequence of our points of view to assume that the whole of space is filled with electrons and flying electric ions of all kinds. - Kristian Birkeland </div>

 

[michaelmozina]

<p><BR/>Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'>I don't really know enough of the details to say anything other than it sounds important and should provide some pretty interesting results.&nbsp;</p><p> Posted by UFmbutler</DIV></p><p>http://www.ibex.swri.edu/multimedia/0901counts.png</p><p>FYI, the only data I've seen thus far is this image of the data from an early orbit.&nbsp; About all one might deduce from this one sliver of the sky is that it looks as though the hydrogen flow is somewhat "directional" and seems to be concentrated near one side of the heliophere, nearer the equator rather than the poles.&nbsp; Even that much seems like "wild speculation", especially given only a single sliver in what is undoubtedly a very interesting and complex process. &nbsp; </p><p>From Dave McComas, IBEX Principal Investigator:</p><p>Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'>As 2009 begins, we are taking science data with both the IBEX-Hi and IBEX-Lo sensors and collecting our first swaths of our all-sky maps. The image shows a dark sky map with the first orbit's worth of coincidence counts from hydrogen atoms with speeds from about one hundred thousand to <strong>36 million miles per hour</strong>! Now the hard (and fun) work begins as we collect more orbits worth of data exposing adjacent swaths of the sky and sift through and remove the various backgrounds to unveil the underlying image from the edge of our solar system. This work is a little bit like removing the grit and discoloration from the inside of the Sistine chapel (restoration carried out from 1979-1999) to uncover the full beauty of Michelangelo's masterpiece beneath.</DIV></p><p>Emphasis mine. &nbsp; That's pretty amazing stuff IMO.&nbsp; I can't wait for the movie. </p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> It seems to be a natural consequence of our points of view to assume that the whole of space is filled with electrons and flying electric ions of all kinds. - Kristian Birkeland </div>