Will only be on occasionally- somewhat busy with this one...



        
New Launch: 2008 October 19, 1747 UTC        
Site: US Army Kwajalein Atoll (USAKA)
Launcher: Pegasus
International Designators(s): 2008-051A

SSC        Name        Owner
33401        IBEX        US

"Sunday's launch of a small eight-sided satellite marked the start of a two-year mission of long-distance exploration to study the little-known boundary between the solar system and the galaxy beyond.

"The Interstellar Boundary Explorer, or IBEX, rode into space Sunday aboard a Pegasus XL rocket dropped from the belly of an airplane above the Pacific Ocean.

"The L-1011 carrier aircraft, nicknamed Stargazer, deployed the 50,000-pound [22,700-kg] rocket at 1:47 p.m. EDT Sunday. The plane was flying about 100 miles [160 km] north of Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands.

"The winged launcher boosted IBEX and a Star 27 kick motor into a temporary parking orbit in the first eight minutes of the mission. The solid-fueled Star 27 fired a few minutes later to boost IBEX to an arcing high-altitude orbit.

"The satellite was targeting an orbit with a high point of about 127,000 miles [204,000 km] and an inclination of 11 degrees."

"IBEX will begin using its own hydrazine fuel to climb higher, eventually reaching an orbit with a low point of 4,400 miles and a high point of 200,000 miles [322,000 km], about 80 percent of the distance to the moon.

"Science activities are expected to begin in about five weeks, officials said.

"The mission requires that the spacecraft fly outside of the influence of Earth's magnetic field to capture energetic particles from the edge of the solar system.

"IBEX will observe material from the outer solar system called energetic neutral atoms. These atoms are created by a process called charge exchange, in which charged particles are neutralized by nearby atoms to form the energetic neutral atoms."

"IBEX data will produce an all-sky map of the heliopause every six months. Officials expect to create up to four maps during the mission."

Source: Spaceflight Now, "New satellite to study solar system's distant frontier"