Interstellar dust experiment (IDEX) onboard NASA’s interstellar mapping and acceleration probe (IMAP)

Abstract

The Interstellar Dust Experiment (IDEX) onboard NASA’s Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP) is dedicated to measuring the flux, size distribution, and composition of Interstellar (ISD) and Interplanetary (IDP) Dust Particles while stationed at Lagrange point L1 of the Earth-Sun system. IDEX is an impact ionization Time-of-Flight (TOF) mass spectrometer that measures the elemental and/or molecular and selected isotopic composition of impacting dust particles. Due to its high sensitivity and large detection area, IDEX is expected to detect and analyze approximately 200 ISD and 1250 IDP particles over the first two years of the mission.