Overview of the IMAGE Science Objectives and Mission Phases

S. A. Fuselier
Lockheed Martin Advanced Technology Center, Palo Alto, California

J. L Burch and W. S. Lewis
Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, Texas

P. H. Reiff
Rice University, Houston, Texas

            The Imager for Magnetopause-to-Aurora Global Exploration (IMAGE) 
mission uses a suite of imaging instruments to investigate the global response of 
the magnetosphere to changing solar wind conditions.  Detailed science questions
that fall under this broad objective include plasma processes that occur on the
dayside, flanks, and nightside of the magnetosphere.  The IMAGE orbit has been
carefully designed to optimize the investigation of these plasma processes as the
orbit precesses through the magnetospheric regions.  We discuss here the phasing
of the IMAGE orbit during the two-year prime mission and the relationship between
the orbit characteristics and the critical science objectives of the mission.

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Space Science Reviews, IMAGE Special Issue, Vol. 91, pp. 51-66, February, 2000