Greetings -
I've been working on the IBEX mission for 4 years now. It is great to see all the discussion generated here! This is really the kind of thing that makes one think it's been worthwhile. There are a number of open questions about the nature of the ribbon, and also the local interstellar medium. The Voyager passes through the termination shock left a few big questions as well, namely why the solar wind is supersonic on both sides of the shock and why the ACR flux didn't peak at the shock as predicted by a shock acceleration model of ACR generation. Everybody in the community knows that these are plasmas, and so by definition dominated by electromagnetic forces. However, there is still a lot of work to do on both observation and theory. So, I will keep checking back here for new ideas If anyone has any specific questions on the IBEX measurements I'd be glad to help if I can. Thanks!

thur. nov 26 2009

the contact with NASA is more than a greeting
it`s the first signal that our minds are meeting
disclosure is not just what you imagine it will be
and the powers that be also had to wait patiently
but now we have their acceptance not fear
progress will move up and not just a gear
you will be informed as they and others interact
for now please be peaceful, relax and sit back