New IXPE Spacecraft Launches to Analyze X-Ray Spectra

NASA launched its new X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) mission aboard a SpaceX Falcon9 rocket on December 9 from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The joint mission with the Italian Space Agency, the IXPE observatory is the first mission dedicated entirely to studying the polarization of X-rays from some of the oddest objects in the universe, including supernova black holes, high-energy stars, and other phenomena too difficult to study with terrestrial equipment. 

The mission began without fault, with separation from the launch vehicle cleanly accomplished 33 minutes after launch. The IXPE unfurled its solar arrays and entered its orbit at 372 miles  of altitude, with NASA receiving its first telemetry message soon after. The satellite carries with it 3 space telescopes specialized for polarization analysis, allowing researchers to study the origin of specific lights arising from deep space. The mission builds on the foundation established by the Chandra X-ray Observatory, the earlier NASA flagship telescope. 

“IXPE represents another extraordinary first,” said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “Together with our partners in Italy and around the world, we’ve 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  the violent universe around us – such as exploding stars and the black holes at the center of galaxies – in ways we’ve never been able to see it.”

FMI: www.nasa.gov