IMAP Interstellar Dust Experiment (IDEX) Door Deployment

Technicians test the spring-activated door on the Interstellar Dust Experiment (IDEX) instrument of NASA’s IMAP (Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe) observatory inside the high bay at the Astrotech Space Operations Facility near the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Tuesday, June 3, 2025. The door will remain closed to protect IDEX from contamination during integration and launch. Once in space, the door will swing open permanently to allow interstellar and interplanetary dust to flow into the instrument for measurement. The IMAP observatory will study how the Sun shapes the boundaries of the heliosphere, the protective bubble around our solar system. Launch is targeted for no earlier than September 2025 aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA Kennedy.

Technicians test the spring-activated door on the Interstellar Dust Experiment (IDEX) instrument of NASA’s IMAP (Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe) observatory inside the high bay at the Astrotech Space Operations Facility near the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Tuesday, June 3, 2025. The door will remain closed to protect IDEX from contamination during integration and launch. Once in space, the door will swing open permanently to allow interstellar and interplanetary dust to flow into the instrument for measurement. The IMAP observatory will study how the Sun shapes the boundaries of the heliosphere, the protective bubble around our solar system. Launch is targeted for no earlier than September 2025 aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA Kennedy.

Album SpaceX_IMAP
IMAPInterstellar Mapping and Acceleration ProbespacecraftNASANational Aeronautical and Space AdministrationKSCKennedy Space CenterGSFCLSPLaunch Services ProgramPrinceton UniversityJohns Hopkins Applied Physics LabIDEX