Work on the GLOWS instrument is underway at the Space Research Centre of the Polish Academy of Sciences (PAN). Construction of the engineering model has already been completed.

GLOWS (GLObal solar wind structure) is a photometer for observing the fluorescence glow of heliospheric hydrogen in the Solar System, which is the first entirely Polish experiment and instrument being prepared for a NASA mission. 

It will make it possible to study the dependence of the solar wind flux on heliographic latitude and the distribution in interplanetary space of interstellar hydrogen.

“We have been given the opportunity to plan the experiment, build absolutely our own instrument and follow the recorded data. From this point of view, the work on the GLOWS instrument for the NASA IMAP (Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe) mission is an extremely valuable experience”, says Prof. Iwona Stanisławska, director of the Space Research Centre of the Polish Academy of Sciences.