Launched in late 2021, the science activities for NASA’s IXPE (Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer) mission were directed by researchers at NASA and the Italian Space Agency through February 2024. Now, during the General Observer phase of the mission, IXPE’s observation program primarily is guided by the broader scientific community. “We’re in the process of turning …
NASA confirmed the IXPE spacecraft resumed normal science operations April 3, following a successful spacecraft avionics reset on March 26. NASA's IXPE (Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer) had stopped transmitting valid telemetry data on March 23. The only previous interruption of IXPE science observations was due to a similar issue in June of 2023. Using procedures …
By Rick Smith Josephine Wong is an astrophysicist who studies pulsar wind nebulae and writes software to help researchers maximize returns on their science data. She also plays violin in the Stanford Medicine Orchestra at Stanford University in California, mentors high school students, writes creative fiction, and edits content for the Stanford astrophysics website. Oh, …
By Rick Smith Italian astrophysicist Elisabetta Cavazzuti spends her spare time rappelling down steep cliffs and waterfalls. This sport, called "canyoning," combines a sharp respect for physics and precision engineering with a deep love for the beauty of nature. The rest of the time, her focus is on the stars, which demand the same precise, …
By Rick Smith A black hole is a region of spacetime where gravity is so relentless that nothing nearby – not stars, not even light – can resist its pull. Astrophysicist Kavitha Arur can't resist it either. She's been fascinated with black holes since childhood. "I always enjoyed mysteries and solving puzzles, and astronomy is …
By Rick Smith When Italian researcher Luca Baldini stepped down as analysis coordinator for NASA's Fermi Gamma Ray Space Telescope in 2016 to help develop IXPE, the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer, colleagues presented him with a flamethrowing guitar. It was a spot-on gift for a musician and scientist who, in his spare time, crafts his …
July 3, 2023 UPDATE: NASA confirmed its IXPE spacecraft resumed normal science operations July 1, following a successful reset on June 26. On Saturday, June 24, NASA's Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) stopped transmitting valid telemetry data. The IXPE team could command the spacecraft and operate it in pointing mode, but the spacecraft was not …
By Rick Smith If the secret to happiness is pursuing and achieving goals that bring contentment to both the heart and the intellect, then Kacie Davis, a flight controller for NASA's Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE), is living her best life – and she took an unexpected path to get there. Initially, it wasn't the …
By Rick Smith As NASA's Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer mission explores black holes, neutron stars, and other cosmic phenomena – helping to answer fundamental questions about extreme space environments – it relies on the mission operations team at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, or LASP. Some 700 people – engineers, scientists, mission-operations personnel …
On Oct. 9, 2022, NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope and Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory detected a high-energy blast of light from deep space. The light came from a powerful explosion called a gamma-ray burst dubbed GRB 221009A that ranks among the most luminous known. Scientists around the world trained their telescopes on the aftermath. Michela …
