{"id":21954,"date":"2021-12-10T12:40:07","date_gmt":"2021-12-10T06:55:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/?p=21954"},"modified":"2021-12-10T12:40:10","modified_gmt":"2021-12-10T06:55:10","slug":"nasa-launches-new-mission-to-explore-universes-most-dramatic-objects","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/nasa-launches-new-mission-to-explore-universes-most-dramatic-objects\/","title":{"rendered":"NASA Launches New Mission to Explore Universe\u2019s Most Dramatic Objects"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) mission launched at 1 a.m. EST Thursday on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from NASA\u2019s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A joint effort with the Italian Space Agency, the IXPE observatory is NASA\u2019s first mission dedicated to measuring the polarization of X-rays from the most extreme and mysterious objects in the universe \u2013 supernova remnants, supermassive black holes, and dozens of other high-energy objects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIXPE represents another extraordinary first,\u201d said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTogether with our partners in Italy and around the world, we\u2019ve added a new space observatory to our fleet that will shape our understanding of the universe for years to come. Each NASA spacecraft is carefully chosen to target brand new observations enabling new science, and IXPE is going to show us \u00a0the violent universe around us \u2013 such as exploding stars and the black holes at the center of galaxies \u2013 in ways we\u2019ve never been able to see it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The rocket performed as expected, with spacecraft separation taking place 33 minutes into flight. Approximately one minute later, the spacecraft unfurled its solar arrays. IXPE entered its orbit around Earth\u2019s equator at an altitude of approximately 372 miles (600 kilometers). About 40 minutes after launch, mission operators received the first spacecraft telemetry data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches with NASA\u2019s Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) spacecraft onboard from Launch Complex 39A, Thursday, Dec. 9, 2021, at NASA\u2019s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The IXPE spacecraft is the first satellite dedicated to measuring the polarization of X-rays from a variety of cosmic sources, such as black holes and neutron stars. Launch occurred at 1:00 a.m. EST. Photo Credit: (NASA\/Joel Kowsky)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt is an indescribable feeling to see something you\u2019ve worked on for decades become real and launch into space,\u201d said Martin Weisskopf<\/a>, IXPE\u2019s principal investigator at NASA\u2019s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. Weisskopf came up with the idea for the spacecraft and has conducted seminal experiments in X-ray astronomy since the 1970s. \u201cThis is just the beginning for IXPE. We have much work ahead. But tonight, we celebrate!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

IXPE carries three state-of-the-art space telescopes with special polarization-sensitive detectors. Polarization is a property of light that holds clues to the environment from which the light originates. The new mission builds on and complements the scientific discoveries of other telescopes, including the Chandra X-ray Observatory<\/a>, NASA\u2019s flagship X-ray telescope. First light operations are scheduled to begin in January.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NASA Marshall manages the IXPE mission for the agency\u2019s Science Mission Directorate as a project of the NASA\u2019s Explorers Program. IXPE is an international collaboration between NASA, the Italian Space Agency, along with partners and providers in 12 other countries. Marshall built the three X-ray telescopes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Italian Space Agency contributed IXPE\u2019s polarization detectors. Ball Aerospace in Broomfield, Colorado, provided the spacecraft and manages spacecraft operations at the University of Colorado Boulder\u2019s Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics. NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, manages the Explorers Program.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) mission launched at 1 a.m. EST Thursday on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from NASA\u2019s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":21955,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21954","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-space-news"],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/nasa.jpg",985,616,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/nasa-200x200.jpg",200,200,true],"medium":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/nasa-640x400.jpg",640,400,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/nasa-768x480.jpg",750,469,true],"large":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/nasa-675x422.jpg",675,422,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/nasa.jpg",985,616,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/nasa.jpg",985,616,false],"ultp_layout_landscape_large":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/nasa.jpg",985,616,false],"ultp_layout_landscape":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/nasa.jpg",870,544,false],"ultp_layout_portrait":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/nasa.jpg",600,375,false],"ultp_layout_square":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/nasa.jpg",600,375,false],"newspaper-x-single-post":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/nasa-760x490.jpg",760,490,true],"newspaper-x-recent-post-big":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/nasa-550x360.jpg",550,360,true],"newspaper-x-recent-post-list-image":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/nasa-95x65.jpg",95,65,true],"web-stories-poster-portrait":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/nasa.jpg",640,400,false],"web-stories-publisher-logo":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/nasa.jpg",96,60,false],"web-stories-thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/nasa.jpg",150,94,false]},"author_info":{"info":["RevoScience"]},"category_info":"Space\/ AstroPhysics<\/a>","tag_info":"Space\/ AstroPhysics","comment_count":"0","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21954","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21954"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21954\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21955"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21954"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21954"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21954"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}