Author Topic: SpaceX Falcon 9 : NASA IXPE : KSC LC-39A : 9 December 2021 (0600 UTC) (Read 112676 times)

Rondaz · « **Reply #240 on:** 12/14/2021 12:39 pm »

Need an afternoon boost? Here’s one courtesy of SpaceX.

https://twitter.com/PortCanaveral/status/1470511309737373702

SPKirsch · « **Reply #241 on:** 12/14/2021 04:48 pm »

Legs are up

Lewis007 · « **Reply #242 on:** 12/14/2021 07:12 pm »

https://twitter.com/spacecoast_stve/status/1470829247124152322

Rondaz · « **Reply #243 on:** 12/15/2021 02:05 am »

B1061 is moved from Just Read the Instructions to be transported back to the hangar and refurbished for its next flight.

https://twitter.com/RDAnglePhoto/status/1470927083350155265

Rondaz · « **Reply #244 on:** 12/15/2021 11:17 pm »

SpaceX booster B1061 rolls by after its 5th flight!

https://twitter.com/JennyHPhoto/status/1471193345225461760

Rondaz · « **Reply #245 on:** 12/15/2021 11:20 pm »

Did I just get out of surgery? Yes.

Does that stop me from catching a booster? Nope!

SpaceX booster B1061-5 heading back to KSC.

https://twitter.com/JennyHPhoto/status/1471181757559025673

zubenelgenubi · « **Reply #246 on:** 12/17/2021 07:50 pm »

Moderator:
IXPE program updates and discussion should be posted in its program thread in the Space Science board: https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=41949.0 .

I split/merged 4 posts there.

ddspaceman · « **Reply #247 on:** 01/10/2022 11:24 pm »

https://twitter.com/TGMetsFan98/status/1480693148800233476

DanClemmensen · « **Reply #248 on:** 01/10/2022 11:37 pm »

Quote from: Lewis007 on 12/14/2021 07:12 pm

https://twitter.com/spacecoast_stve/status/1470829247124152322

The gull is a juvenile, almost old enough to molt into its adult plumage.

zubenelgenubi · « **Reply #249 on:** 01/11/2022 08:07 pm »

Was the launch time to the second or millisecond announced?

ChrisC · « **Reply #250 on:** 01/16/2022 07:49 pm »

Quote from: zubenelgenubi on 12/17/2021 07:50 pm

Moderator:
IXPE program updates and discussion should be posted in its program thread in the Space Science board: https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=41949.0 .
I split/merged 4 posts there.

Reminder that science / mission operations discussion is in this other thread. I'm posting a presentation by the PI there now.

Comga · « **Reply #251 on:** 01/16/2022 11:07 pm »

Quote from: ChrisC on 01/16/2022 07:49 pm

Quote from: zubenelgenubi on 12/17/2021 07:50 pm
Moderator:
IXPE program updates and discussion should be posted in its program thread in the Space Science board: https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=41949.0 .
I split/merged 4 posts there.

Reminder that science / mission operations discussion is in this other thread. I'm posting a presentation by the PI there now.

In that presentation on the IXPE mission, at 6:50 in the video, PI Martin Weisskopf says that the orbit inclination is 0.26 deg against a “target”, probably an upper limit, of 0.2 deg.

That’s less than 1% of the initial 28.5 deg inclination due to launching from the Cape.
However, it’s a larger than normal inclination error, and beyond the “target”.
Do we know if SpaceX overshot or undershot the plane change?

(See? It would have been useful to have a display of instantaneous orbital inclination during that maneuver. 😊)

Rondaz · « **Reply #252 on:** 12/09/2022 09:36 pm »

IXPE Celebrates 1 Year of Exploring the Cosmos

Beth Ridgeway Posted on December 9, 2022

One year ago, NASA’s Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) lit up the early morning sky as it started its journey into space. The satellite was launched on a Falcon 9 rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Dec. 9, 2021.

IXPE 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. Polarization is a property of light that gives scientists important information about cosmic objects. Before IXPE, X-ray polarization was rarely measured in space. In just one year, IXPE has conducted measurements no telescope has ever been able to make before.

Here’s a look at some of IXPE’s accomplishments in the first year of its mission:

IXPE unlocked the secrets of Cassiopeia A, a famous exploded star.
Findings from IXPE’s observation of neutron star Hercules X-1 surprised scientists.
IXPE revealed the shape and orientation of hot matter around a black hole.
Thanks to IXPE, scientists confirmed magnetars are highly polarized.
NASA’s IXPE helped solve a 40-year mystery around particle acceleration in a blazar, an active black hole that has a jet pointed toward Earth.

IXPE is just getting started. Its baseline mission duration is two years, so with at least one more year of exploration to go, the satellite is poised to make more exciting discoveries about the intricacies of X-ray polarization. Happy first anniversary, IXPE!

https://blogs.nasa.gov/ixpe/2022/12/09/ixpe-celebrates-1-year-of-exploring-the-cosmos/