NASA’s Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP) Mission FriendsofNASA.org: NASA’s Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe, or IMAP, is a new mission that will map the boundaries of our heliosphere—a giant protective bubble created by the Sun that encapsulates our solar system. The spacecraft will study the Sun’s activity and how the heliosphere boundary interacts with the local galactic neighborhood beyond. The heliosphere protects the solar system from dangerous high-energy partic