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Inspecting IMPACT's Blankets

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APL STEREO engineers make final inspections of blankets covering some IMPACT-related instruments before the instruments are placed on the STEREO "A" observatory (the one that will be placed "ahead" of Earth in its orbit around the sun).

The Solar Electron Proton Telescope is part of the larger IMPACT (In situ Measurements of PArticles and CME Transients) instrument suite placed onboard each observatory. The IMPACT investigation provides measurements of the solar wind electrons, interplanetary magnetic fields, and solar energetic particles.

IMPACT comprises seven instruments including a solar wind electron analyzer, a magnetometer, and an array of particle detectors measuring the energetic ions and electrons accelerated in coronal mass ejection (CME) shocks and in solar flares. IMPACT's principal investigator is Janet Luhmann of the University of California, Berkeley.

Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory