The Pegasus XL rocket launches big things in small packages.
IBEX Launch
Spacecraft: Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX)
Launch Vehicle: Orbital Sciences Pegasus XL Rocket
Launch Location: Reagan Test Site, Kwajalein Atoll
Launch Date: Oct. 19
Launch Window: 2:58 p.m. - 3:06 p.m. EDT
IBEX to Map the Boundaries of Our Solar System
Image above: At Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, technicians help guide the placement of the IBEX spacecraft onto a stand for spin-balance testing. Photo credit: NASA/VAFB
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› IBEX Photo Gallery
Latest News - Sept. 19, 2008
The IBEX spacecraft, its upper stage booster and the Pegasus XL rocket are in the Orbital Sciences launch vehicle hangar at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.
Integrated verification testing of the IBEX spacecraft and the Pegasus XL rocket, originally scheduled for Sept. 13 and 14, was delayed due to some problems found in the IBEX flight stack electrical harnesses.
The issues were resolved and the initial integrated testing on IBEX/Pegasus was completed on Sept. 17 with no major complications.
The complete IBEX flight system tentatively is planned to be attached to the Pegasus launch vehicle Sept. 22-24.
Departure of the L-1011 carrying the Pegasus XL rocket with IBEX from Vandenberg currently is planned for Oct. 10. After a stop in Hawaii, the flight will continue and arrive at the Reagan Test Site at Kwajalein Atoll in the south Pacific on Oct. 11.
About IBEX
The Interstellar Boundary Explorer is a small explorer NASA mission designed to map the boundary of the solar system while orbiting Earth.
The IBEX spacecraft is a satellite the size of a bus tire. While whirling around Earth, instruments on the spacecraft will look toward the edge of the solar system and collect particles called energetic neutral atoms. The atoms will provide information about the boundary as they travel from beyond the orbit of Pluto toward Earth.
The boundary is actually created by the interaction between the solar wind and the interstellar medium which is the gas and dust found between the galaxies. The solar wind streams out into space and carves out a protective bubble around the solar system called the heliosphere. The heliosphere defines one type of boundary of the solar system.
The IBEX spacecraft will launch off an Orbital Sciences Pegasus XL rocket from the Kwajelein Atoll of the Regan Test Site in the South Pacific. Launching from this site takes advantage of the energy of the Earth's rotation, which is greater near the equator than at higher latitudes.
› IBEX Newsletter
Launch Vehicle: Orbital Sciences Pegasus XL Rocket
Launch Location: Reagan Test Site, Kwajalein Atoll
Launch Date: Oct. 19
Launch Window: 2:58 p.m. - 3:06 p.m. EDT
IBEX to Map the Boundaries of Our Solar System
› View larger image
› IBEX Photo Gallery
Latest News - Sept. 19, 2008
The IBEX spacecraft, its upper stage booster and the Pegasus XL rocket are in the Orbital Sciences launch vehicle hangar at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.
Integrated verification testing of the IBEX spacecraft and the Pegasus XL rocket, originally scheduled for Sept. 13 and 14, was delayed due to some problems found in the IBEX flight stack electrical harnesses.
The issues were resolved and the initial integrated testing on IBEX/Pegasus was completed on Sept. 17 with no major complications.
The complete IBEX flight system tentatively is planned to be attached to the Pegasus launch vehicle Sept. 22-24.
Departure of the L-1011 carrying the Pegasus XL rocket with IBEX from Vandenberg currently is planned for Oct. 10. After a stop in Hawaii, the flight will continue and arrive at the Reagan Test Site at Kwajalein Atoll in the south Pacific on Oct. 11.
About IBEX
The Interstellar Boundary Explorer is a small explorer NASA mission designed to map the boundary of the solar system while orbiting Earth.
The IBEX spacecraft is a satellite the size of a bus tire. While whirling around Earth, instruments on the spacecraft will look toward the edge of the solar system and collect particles called energetic neutral atoms. The atoms will provide information about the boundary as they travel from beyond the orbit of Pluto toward Earth.
The boundary is actually created by the interaction between the solar wind and the interstellar medium which is the gas and dust found between the galaxies. The solar wind streams out into space and carves out a protective bubble around the solar system called the heliosphere. The heliosphere defines one type of boundary of the solar system.
The IBEX spacecraft will launch off an Orbital Sciences Pegasus XL rocket from the Kwajelein Atoll of the Regan Test Site in the South Pacific. Launching from this site takes advantage of the energy of the Earth's rotation, which is greater near the equator than at higher latitudes.
› IBEX Newsletter
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