The NASA I.M.A.G.E Satellite :

Imager for Magnetopause-to-Auroral Global Exploration

A Mission to Explore the
Earth's Space Environment

  1. How can the IMAGE satellite see anything if it is constantly spinning?

  2. Will the IMAGE satellite make 'pointed' observations?

  3. What will happen if the launch of the IMAGE satellite is delayed?

  4. What kinds of problems can be encountered while building a satellite like IMAGE?

  5. Where will the IMAGE satellite control center be located?

  6. Will we be able to look at the IMAGE data online?

  7. How will the 'Yo-Yo' be used to despin the IMAGE spacecraft?

  8. Where will the IMAGE satellite be assembled?

  9. How powerful is the transmitter on the IMAGE satellite?

  10. Why does the IMAGE satellite have to be shaken before launch?

  11. How does the IMAGE Star Tracker work?

  12. What is that tower that sticks out from the top of the IMAGE satellite?

  13. How are the instruments arranged inside the satellite?

  14. What does the IMAGE satellite really look like?

  15. What will happen to the IMAGE satellite during its first month after launch?

  16. What kind of radiation protection will be built-in to the IMAGE design?

  17. How much power will the IMAGE spacecraft use, and where will it come from?

  18. How are the RPI antennas going to be deployed without winding them up into spirals like a pinwheel?

  19. What are the four long wires for that stick out of the side of the IMAGE satellite?

  20. What will the data look like from the IMAGE satellite instruments?

  21. Will we be able to see the IMAGE satellite from the ground?

  22. How does the IMAGE satellite know where to point?

  23. How does the IMAGE satellite collect and transmit data to the ground?

  24. What is a 'plasmagram'?

  25. What are 'ordinary' and 'extraordinary' modes?

  26. Where does the Earth's atmosphere come to an end?

  27. What is the 'Ring Current'?

  28. Why does IMAGE need so many kinds of ultraviolet 'imagers'?

  29. What is the 'cusp' region?

  30. Where will the satellite be launched?

  31. What is it that makes the IMAGE mission so unique?

  32. What is the 'magnetopause'?

  33. How powerful is the magnetic field of the Earth in space?

  34. What is a 'plasma'?

  35. How does a 'Radio Plasma Imager' operate?

  36. How does a 'Neutral Atom Imager' operate?

  37. What are the main practical objectives of the mission?

  38. What are the main scientific objectives of the mission?

  39. How many instruments are there on the IMAGE satellite?

  40. What are some of the basic statistics about the IMAGE satellite?

  41. How was the IMAGE Project conceived?

  42. How many people were involved in the design and construction of IMAGE?

  43. How big is the IMAGE spacecraft?

  44. How much data will the IMAGE satellite generate each day?

  45. Compared to other astronomical telescopes, how well can IMAGE resolve the things it sees?

  46. How much will IMAGE cost to build and operate?

  47. What kind of computer does the IMAGE spacecraft use on-board?

Return to the Ask the Space Scientist main page.

All answers are provided by Dr. Sten Odenwald (Raytheon STX) for the
NASA IMAGE/POETRY Education and Public Outreach program.