IMP-8 Explorer 50 Interplanetary Monitoring Platform spacecraft
NASA's IMP-8 (Explorer 50) was launched on 26 October 1973 to study cosmic rays, energetic solar particles, plasma, and electric and magnetic fields in interplanetary space, the magnetotail, and magnetospheric boundaries. Operating in a near-circular orbit about 35 Earth radii from Earth, it provided long-duration solar-wind measurements and a one-AU baseline for deep-space Voyager and Ulysses studies.
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Identity
- Aliases
- IMP-8IMP 8IMP-JExplorer 50Interplanetary Monitoring Platform-8
- Family Name
- IMP-8
- Full Name
- IMP-8 Explorer 50 Interplanetary Monitoring Platform spacecraft
- Roles
- orbiterinterplanetary_probeobservatoryresearch
- Status
- retired
- Type
- spacecraft
Details
- Description
- NASA's IMP-8 (Explorer 50) was launched on 26 October 1973 to study cosmic rays, energetic solar particles, plasma, and electric and magnetic fields in interplanetary space, the magnetotail, and magnetospheric boundaries. Operating in a near-circular orbit about 35 Earth radii from Earth, it provided long-duration solar-wind measurements and a one-AU baseline for deep-space Voyager and Ulysses studies.
- First Flight Year
- 1,973
- Last Flight Year
- 2,006
Links
- Official Url
- https://science.nasa.gov/mission/imp-8/
Assets & Meta
- Creation Time
- August 13, 2026 at 13:25:43 UTC
- Updated Time
- August 13, 2026 at 13:25:43 UTC