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By 2049 the probe will be 85 AU away from the Sun. In March 2029 the probe will fly by Jupiter to send it on a trajectory toward the nose of the heliosphere and potentially make observations of centaurs or Kuiper belt objects, including the flyby of Quaoar, along the way. In October 2025 it will return to Earth for a gravity assist, then loop back in December 2027 for yet another gravity assist. The goal of the spacecraft is to have travelled a total of 100 astronomical units by 2049, which is the centennial celebration of the People's Republic of China's founding. Infrared mapping:1–16 μm spectrum range, 9 cm −1 spectrum resolution, 0.5° FOV Ultraviolet mapping: 121.6 nm, 58.4 nm wavelength, 4°x4° FOV. Images emission of energetic neutral atoms ~1–100 keV Hĭust analysis: 400 cm 2 area, 10 −17–10 −9 kg range, 1 – 10 3 km/s impact, 10 −16–10 −13 charge Ion counter: 0.002–40 keV/e, energy resolution 5% mass resolution of H+, He+, He2+, N+, O+, Ne+ The probes are proposed to carry the following suite of instruments: InstrumentĨ–70 000 nT sensitive to 0.001–0.05 nT/Hz 1/2, accurate to 0.005–3 nT Future dates of May 20 launches have already been considered for IHP-2, and it is possible that IHP-1 could be moved to those as well. While a 2024 launch date was targeted, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused some delays, which may render it to launch at a later date. Centaur exploration has also been considered for both probes. ĥ0000 Quaoar and its moon Weywot are currently being considered as potential flyby targets for IHP-1. While IHP-1 and IHP-2 will use RTGs for power, IHP-3, if approved, would use a nuclear reactor. Depending on whether monopropellant or ion propulsion is used, the probes would be launched using either Long March 3B or Long March 5 rockets. They will also study anomalous cosmic rays, interplanetary dust, and the interstellar medium. Later spacecraft which would remain within the Solar System, such as Cassini–Huygens, have gathered valuable data on the heliosphere and how it interacts with the interstellar medium, suggesting that the heliosphere is not shaped like a comet but is rather spherical.Įach probe is to weigh about 200 kilograms, to use radioisotope thermoelectric generators for power, and to carry 50 kilograms or more of scientific instruments such as optical cameras, magnetometers, dust detectors, and neutral atom and particle payloads. However, none of these probes are exploring the tail of the heliosphere Pioneer 10, which was headed toward the tail after its Jupiter flyby in 1973, lost contact with Earth in 2003. Both Voyagers used gravity assists to take them out of the plane of the ecliptic: Voyager 1 to the north with Saturn in 1980, and Voyager 2 to the south with Neptune in 1989 New Horizons designed to stay within the plane to allow for exploration of other Kuiper belt objects.
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The heliosphere and the interstellar medium have so far been explored by only three NASA probes: Voyager 1, Voyager 2, and New Horizons. IHP-1 and IHP-2 would be the sixth and seventh spacecraft to leave the Solar System, as well as first non- NASA probes to achieve this status. There may be another probe-tentatively IHP-3-which would launch in 2030 to explore to the northern half of the heliosphere. The first probe, IHP-1, will travel toward the nose of the heliosphere, while the second probe, IHP-2, will fly near to the tail, skimming by Neptune and Triton in January 2038. The program will feature two space probes that will purportedly be launched in 2024 and follow differing trajectories to encounter Jupiter to assist them out of the Solar System. Interstellar Express or Interstellar Heliosphere Probe is the current name for a proposed Chinese National Space Administration program designed to explore the heliosphere and interstellar space. JSTOR ( April 2021) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message).Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.įind sources: "Interstellar Express" – news Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. This article needs additional citations for verification.