A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, with NASA’s Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) spacecraft, rolls out to Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Dec. 7, 2021. Photo credit: SpaceX
NASA’s Imaging X-Ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) spacecraft, atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, rolled out of Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39A hangar to the launch pad on Tuesday, Dec. 7, at 12:46 p.m. EST. The rocket and spacecraft are expected to go vertical this evening.
NASA’s first mission dedicated to measuring X-ray polarization, IXPE is targeted to lift off from Kennedy on Thursday at 1 a.m. EST. The launch is managed by NASA’s Launch Services Program, based at Kennedy.
The IXPE spacecraft includes three space telescopes with sensitive detectors capable of measuring the polarization of cosmic X-rays, allowing scientists to answer fundamental questions about extremely complex environments in space where gravitational, electric, and magnetic fields are at their limits. The project is a collaboration between NASA and the Italian Space Agency.
On Dec. 9, starting at 12:30 a.m. EST, tune in to NASA Television, the NASA app, or the agency’s website for a live broadcast – or stay right here for a live blog to take you through the launch day events.
NASA’s IXPE spacecraft will study changes in the polarization of X-ray light through some of the universe’s most extreme sources, including black holes, dead stars known as pulsars, and more.
NASA will provide coverage of today’s prelaunch activities for the agency’s Imaging X-Ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) spacecraft, targeted to lift off aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39A on Thursday, Dec. 9, at 1 a.m. EST. The launch is managed by NASA’s Launch Services Program, based at Kennedy.
Today’s events will be broadcast on NASA Television, the NASA app, and the agency’s website. Live launch coverage will begin Thursday at 12:30 a.m.
First up today is the IXPE payload briefing, starting at 1 p.m. EST, with the following participants:
Elisabetta Cavazzuti, ASI IXPE program manager, Italian Space Agency
Luca Baldini, Italian co-principal investigator, National Institute for Nuclear Physics
Brian Ramsey, deputy principal investigator, NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center
MacKenzie Ferrie, IXPE program manager, Ball Aerospace
At 5:30 p.m. EST today is the IXPE prelaunch news conference, featuring the following participants:
Sandra Connelly, deputy associate administrator for science, NASA Headquarters
Martin Weisskopf, IXPE principal investigator, Marshall
Makenzie Lystrup, vice president and general manager, civil space, Ball Aerospace
Tim Dunn, launch director, NASA’s Launch Services Program
Mike McAleenan, 45th Weather Squadron, Space Launch Delta 45
IXPE will study changes in the polarization of X-ray light through some of the universe’s most extreme sources, including black holes, dead stars known as pulsars, and more. The mission is NASA’s first dedicated to measuring X-ray polarization.
NASA’s Imaging X-Ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) spacecraft has eclipsed multiple key milestones recently at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett
The weather outlook for Thursday’s early morning launch of NASA’s Imaging X-Ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) spacecraft from Kennedy Space Center bumped up in a positive direction. Weather officials with Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s 45th Weather Squadron now predict a 90% chance of favorable conditions for liftoff, increasing by 10% from a day ago. The cumulus cloud rule is the primary weather concern.
IXPE is scheduled to launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from the Florida spaceport’s Launch Complex 39A on Dec. 9, 2021, at 1 a.m. EST. The launch is managed by NASA’s Launch Services Program, based at Kennedy.
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.
Today, NASA will hold an IXPE payload briefing at 1 p.m. and a prelaunch news briefing at 5:30 p.m. Both will be broadcast on NASA Television, the NASA app, and the agency’s website. Live launch coverage will begin Dec. 9 at 12:30 a.m.
Weather officials with Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s 45th Weather Squadron predict an 80% chance of favorable weather conditions for Thursday’s early morning launch of NASA’s Imaging X-Ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) spacecraft from the Space Coast, with the cumulus cloud rule and thick cloud layer rule serving as the primary weather concerns.
IXPE is scheduled to launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39A on Dec. 9, 2021, at 1 a.m. EST. IXPE will study the polarization of X-rays coming to us from some of the universe’s most extreme sources, including black holes and dead stars known as pulsars.
On Tuesday, Dec. 7, NASA will hold an IXPE payload briefing at 1 p.m. and a prelaunch news briefing at 5:30 p.m. Live launch coverage will begin Dec. 9 at 12:30 a.m. All will be broadcast on NASA Television, the NASA app, and the agency’s website.
NASA’s Imaging X-Ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) spacecraft and nose fairing are brought together for encapsulation inside SpaceX’s Payload Processing Facility at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Dec. 2, 2021. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett
Following a series of “aliveness” tests to verify the health of the spacecraft, teams mated the structure to the payload adapter – a ring that interfaces between the spacecraft and the top of the rocket. Next, multi-layer insulation was installed to provide thermal protection for the spacecraft in space.
After items such as optic and sensitive instrument covers were removed, the nose fairing and the spacecraft were brought together, signaling a major achievement in the mission: encapsulation.
“This is when you mate the spacecraft to the rocket, so it’s the two halves coming together,” said Brett Perkins, launch site integration manager for NASA’s Launch Services Program, based at Kennedy. “There are several critical lifting operations of the spacecraft. You have to be very careful and methodical; a lot of hardware comes together during this timeframe.”
The mission is scheduled to launch no earlier than Thursday, Dec. 9, at 1 a.m. EST, on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. 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.
“IXPE is filling a data gap in polarized X-rays, which we don’t have a lot of information on,” Perkins said. “This mission is a small part of a bigger picture – a bigger effort – to learn more about the universe and how it works.”
On Tuesday, Dec. 7, NASA will hold an IXPE payload briefing at 1 p.m. and a prelaunch news briefing at 5:30 p.m. Live launch coverage will begin Dec. 9 at 12:30 a.m. All will be broadcast on NASA Television, the NASA app, and the agency’s website.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the company’s Crew Dragon spacecraft onboard is in view on the launch pad at Launch Complex 39A on Tuesday, April 20, 2021, as preparations continue for the Crew-2 mission at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASA’s SpaceX Crew-2 mission is the second crew rotation mission of the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket to the International Space Station as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program. NASA astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur, ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Thomas Pesquet, and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Akihiko Hoshide are scheduled to launch at 5:49 a.m. EDT on Friday, April 23, 2021. Photo Credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky
Launch of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-2 mission with astronauts to the International Space Station is on track for Friday, April 23, at 5:49 a.m. EDT. The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with Crew Dragon spacecraft will lift off from Launch Complex 39A at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
NASA astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur, along with JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Akihiko Hoshide, and ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Thomas Pesquet will fly to the International Space Station for a six-month science mission. NASA TV coverage of Crew-2 launch preparations and liftoff will begin at 1:30 a.m. Friday, April 23. The Crew Dragon is scheduled to dock to the space station Saturday, April 24, at approximately 5:10 a.m. EDT.
For an April 23 launch, the U.S. Space Force 45th Weather Squadron continues to predict a 90% chance of favorable weather conditions at the launch pad for liftoff based on Falcon 9 Crew Dragon launch weather criteria. The primary weather concerns for the launch area will be flight through precipitation from isolated, low-topped coastal showers and onshore flow. Conditions continue to improve along the flight path and recovery area for the mission.
Today, Thursday, April 22, is Earth Day. To commemorate this day, NASA is hosting Earth Day in Space. Singer-songwriterShawn Mendes will join five astronauts living and working aboard the International Space to discuss how we’re all #ConnectedByEarth, asking questions from young people around the world about Earth Day, climate change and how the astronauts study Earth from space.
The event will feature NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei, who recently arrived to the space station aboard a Soyuz, joining NASA astronauts Mike Hopkins, Victor Glover, Shannon Walker, and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Soichi Noguchi, the Crew-1 team who arrived last November. It will air live on NASA Television, the NASA app, and the agency’s YouTube channel and website at 11 a.m. EDT April 22.
The Crew-1 astronauts are scheduled to depart the space station at 7:05 a.m. Wednesday, April 28. They will participate in their final news conference aboard the microgravity laboratory at 12:30 p.m. EDT Monday, April 26, about their upcoming return to Earth. Media wishing to participate by telephone must call NASA’s Johnson Space Center’s newsroom at 281-483-5111 to RSVP no later than 5 p.m. Friday, April 23. The news conference will air live on NASA Television, the NASA app, and the agency’s website. Those following the briefing on social media may ask questions using #AskNASA.
Crew-1 worked on a number of experiments as part of Expedition 64 to the International Space Station, including tissue chips that mimic the structure and function of human organs to understand the role of microgravity on human health and diseases, and translate those findings to improve human health on Earth. Astronauts also grew radishes in different types of light and soils as part of ongoing efforts to produce food in space and tested a new system to remove heat from spacesuits.
IXPE is scheduled to launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39A on Dec. 9, 2021, at 1 a.m. EST. IXPE will study the polarization of X-rays coming to us from some of the universe’s most extreme sources, including black holes and dead stars known as pulsars.
