TIMAS is one of several instruments on the POLAR spacecraft launched at 03:24 PST on 24 February 1996. POLAR is one of two spacecraft in NASA’s Global Geospace Science (GGS) program. GGS is, in turn, is part of the International Solar-Terrestrial Physics (ISTP) program.

Principal Investigators

• Dr. W.K. Peterson, Principal Investigator
• Dr. E.G. Shelley, Original Principal Investigator

Construction & Operation

The TIMAS instrument was built for the NASA Space Physics Division by the Lockheed Martin Missiles & Space Company Space Physics Laboratory in Palo Alto, California. Major subsystems were designed and built by The Southwest Research Insitute, San Antonio, Texas, The Mullard Space Science Laboratory University College London, UK, and The University of Berne, Switzerland. TIMAS was managed from the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) of the University of Colorado after September 2001. TIMAS data were acquired from March 16, 1996 until April 16, 2008.