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Imager for Magnetopause-to-Aurora Global Exploration

The Imager for Magnetopause-to-Aurora Global Exploration was a NASA and Southwest Research Institute mission designed to observe Earth's magnetosphere as a connected global system. Neutral-atom, ultraviolet, and radio imaging instruments remotely tracked how magnetospheric plasma responded to the solar wind.

Imager for Magnetopause-to-Aurora Global Exploration
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Identity

Aliases
IMAGE
Name
Imager for Magnetopause-to-Aurora Global Exploration
Status
completed

Details

Astronauts
-
Description
The Imager for Magnetopause-to-Aurora Global Exploration was a NASA and Southwest Research Institute mission designed to observe Earth's magnetosphere as a connected global system. Neutral-atom, ultraviolet, and radio imaging instruments remotely tracked how magnetospheric plasma responded to the solar wind.
End Date
2005-12-18
Launch Site
Outcome
IMAGE exceeded its planned two-year mission and returned more than five years of observations. It provided the first mission-scale global views of magnetospheric structure and auroral responses, replacing a purely local sampling picture with remotely sensed maps of the system's large-scale dynamics.
Programs
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Start Date
2000-03-25
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Creation Time
July 18, 2026 at 15:23:47 UTC
Updated Time
July 29, 2026 at 09:00:00 UTC

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Imager for Magnetopause-to-Aurora Global Exploration IMAGE
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