NASA’s IXPE Sends First Science Image

 

 

 NASA & ASI - Imaging X-Ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) patch.

Feb 14, 2022

In time for Valentine’s Day, NASA’s Imaging X-Ray Polarimetry Explorer which launched Dec. 9, 2021, has delivered its first imaging data since completing its month-long commissioning phase.

All instruments are functioning well aboard the observatory, which is on a quest to study some of the most mysterious and extreme objects in the universe.  

IXPE first focused its X-ray eyes on Cassiopeia A, an object consisting of the remains of a star that exploded in the 17th century. The shock waves from the explosion have swept up surrounding gas, heating it to high temperatures and accelerating cosmic ray particles to make a cloud that glows in X-ray light. Other telescopes have studied Cassiopeia A before, but IXPE will allow researchers to examine it in a new way.

Image above: This image of the supernova Cassiopeia A combines some of the first X-ray data collected by NASA’s Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer, shown in magenta, with high-energy X-ray data from NASA’s Chandra X-Ray Observatory, in blue. Image Credits: NASA/CXC/SAO/IXPE.

In the image above, the saturation of the magenta color corresponds to the intensity of X-ray light observed by IXPE. It overlays high energy X-ray data, shown in blue, from NASA’s Chandra X-Ray Observatory. Chandra and IXPE, with different kinds of detectors, capture different levels of angular resolution, or sharpness. An additional version of this image is available showing only IXPE data. These images contain IXPE data collected from Jan. 11 to 18.

After Chandra launched in 1999, its first image was also of Cassiopeia A. Chandra’s X-ray imagery revealed, for the first time, that there is a compact object in the center of the supernova remnant, which may be a black hole or neutron star.

“The IXPE image of Cassiopeia A is as historic as the Chandra image of the same supernova remnant,” said Martin C. Weisskopf, the IXPE principal investigator based at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. “It demonstrates IXPE’s potential to gain new, never-before-seen information about Cassiopeia A, which is under analysis right now.”

NASA’s Imaging X-Ray Polarimetry Explorer or IXPE. Image Credit: NASA

A key measurement that scientists will make with IXPE is called polarization, a way of looking at how X-ray light is oriented as it travels through space. The polarization of light contains clues to the environment where the light originated. IXPE’s instruments also measure the energy, the time of arrival, and the position in the sky of the X-rays from cosmic sources.

“The IXPE image of Cassiopeia A is bellissima, and we look forward to analyzing the polarimetry data to learn even more about this supernova remnant,” said Paolo Soffitta, the Italian principal investigator for IXPE at the National Institute of Astrophysics (INAF) in Rome.

Image above: This image from NASA’s Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer maps the intensity of X-rays coming from the observatory’s first target, the supernova Cassiopeia A. Colors ranging from cool purple and blue to red and hot white correspond with the increasing brightness of the X-rays. The image was created using X-ray data collected by IXPE between Jan. 11-18. Image Credit: NASA.

With polarization data from Cassiopeia A, IXPE will allow scientists to see, for the first time, how the amount of polarization varies across the supernova remnant, which is about 10 light-years in diameter. Researchers are currently working with the data to create the first-ever X-ray polarization map of the object. This will reveal new clues about how X-rays are produced at Cassiopeia A.

“IXPE's future polarization images should unveil the mechanisms at the heart of this famous cosmic accelerator,” said Roger Romani, an IXPE co-investigator at Stanford University. “To fill in some of those details, we’ve developed a way to make IXPE’s measurements even more precise using machine learning techniques. We’re looking forward to what we’ll find as we analyze all the data.”

IXPE launched on a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral, and now orbits 370 miles (600 kilometers) above Earth’s equator. The mission is a collaboration between NASA and the Italian Space Agency with partners and science collaborators in 12 countries. Ball Aerospace, headquartered in Broomfield, Colorado, manages spacecraft operations.

Imaging X-Ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE): https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/ixpe/index.html

Images (mentioned), Text, Credits: NASA/Lee Mohon/Elizabeth Landau/Marshall Space Flight Center/Molly Porter.

Best regards, Orbiter.ch

ISRO - PSLV-XL launches EOS-04, INS-2TD and INSPIREsat-1

 

ISRO - Indian Space Research Organisation logo.

Feb 14, 2022

PSLV-C52 carrying EOS-04, INS-2TD and INSPIREsat-1 liftoff

For ISRO’s PSLV-C52 mission, a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) in “XL” configuration launched three satellites, EOS-04, INS-2TD and INSPIREsat-1, from the First Launch Pad (FLP) of Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) SHAR, Sriharikota, on 14 February 2022, at 00:29 UTC (05:59 IST).

PSLV-XL launches EOS-04, INS-2TD and INSPIREsat-1

EOS-04 (1710 kg) is a Radar Imaging Satellite designed to provide high quality images under all weather conditions from a Sun-synchronous orbit (SSO) of 529 km. INS-2TD (17.5 kg) is a technology demonstrator satellite from ISRO, having a thermal imaging camera as its payload.

PSLV-C52/EOS-04, INS-2TD and INSPIREsat-1 Mission poster

INSPIREsat-1 (8.1 kg) is a student satellite developed by Indian Institute of Space Science & Technology (11ST), in association with University of Colorado, USA, to improve the understanding of ionosphere dynamics and Sun’s coronal heating processes.

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO): https://www.isro.gov.in/

Images, Video, Text, Credits: Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)/SciNews/Orbiter.ch Aerospace/Roland Berga.

Greetings, Orbiter.ch

Elektra - the first quadruple asteroid

 

ESO - European Southern Observatory logo.

Feb 14, 2022

First observation of a quadruple asteroid

Using the Spectro-Polarimetric High-contrast Exoplanet REsearch facility (SPHERE), installed on European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope at Paranal, Chile, astronomers have imaged a third moon orbiting the asteroid 130 Elektra, making it the first quadruple asteroid ever found.

Elektra - the first quadruple asteroid

Credits:
European Southern Observatory (ESO)
First observation of a quadruple asteroid
Detection of a third moon around (130) Elektra with SPHERE/IFS
Anthony Berdeu, Maud Langlois and Frédéric Vachier
Astronomy & Astrophysics, DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361/202142623

European Southern Observatory (ESO): https://www.eso.org/public/

Image, Video, Text, Credits: SciNews/Orbiter.ch Aerospace/Roland Berga.

Best regards, Orbiter.ch

Volcanism on Mars

 

Moscow Planetarium logo.

Feb 12, 2022

The area of ​​the entire surface of Mars is approximately equal to the area of ​​the earth's land, and its mass is only 10% of the mass of the Earth. Volcanic activity has played a significant role in shaping the planet's topography. The age of Martian volcanoes varies from about 3.7 to 0.5 billion years.

Martian volcanism has formed the largest volcanic structures in the solar system. One of them is Olympus Mons, which is located in the province of Tharsis. The height of Olympus is 26 km, the diameter of the base is 600 km, the size of the volcanic caldera is 85 × 60 km.

Olympus Mons

Part of the western hemisphere of Mars is occupied by a giant volcanic complex - the Tarsis province, covering up to 30% of the planet's surface. Three huge volcanoes up to 18 km high lie in the northeast - southwest direction, these are: Mount Askriyskaya, Mount Pavlina, Mount Arsia. The volcanoes are located about 700 km apart and are on a northeast-southwest axis, which is an object of particular interest.

Mount Askriyskaya (Ascraeus Mons), Mount Peacock (Pavonis Mons), Mount Arsia (Arsia Mons)

The main difference between Martian volcanoes and Earth volcanoes is their size: Martian shield volcanoes are simply colossal. The volcano Olympus Mons on Mars is almost 100 times larger in volume than the largest shield volcano on Earth (Mauna Kea in Hawaii, a little over 10 km from the ocean floor).

According to geologists, one of the reasons for the gigantic size of volcanoes on Mars is the lack of plate tectonics. The Martian crust does not move along the upper mantle, as it does on Earth, so lava from a single vent can erupt onto the surface over a billion years, forming volcanic structures tens of kilometers high. On Earth, this process takes only a few million years.

An active volcanic eruption (or indirect signs of it) on the surface of Mars has not yet been recorded. In 2004, the Mars Express orbiter took pictures of lava flows that scientists believe appeared on the surface about two million years ago. The authors of the study believe that volcanic activity on Mars is possible at the present time.

Source: Moscow Planetarium.

Related articles:

Volcanism on Venus
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2022/02/volcanism-on-venus.html

Volcanism on Io
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2022/01/volcanism-on-io.html

Related links:

ROSCOSMOS Press Release: https://www.roscosmos.ru/34130/

Moscow Planetarium: https://www.roscosmos.ru/tag/moskovskiy-planetariy/

Astronomy: https://www.roscosmos.ru/tag/astronomija/

Mars: https://www.roscosmos.ru/tag/mars/

Images, Animation, Text, Credits: ROSCOSMOS/Moscow Planetarium/Orbiter.ch Aerospace/Roland Berga.

Greetings, Orbiter.ch

Station Crew Gets Ready for Russian and U.S. Cargo Missions

 

ISS - Expedition 66 Mission patch.

Feb 11, 2022

The Expedition 66 crew is getting ready for a pair of cargo missions launching from Kazakhstan and the United States next week. The Progress and Cygnus resupply ships will be delivering several tons of food, fuel, and supplies to replenish the seven astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the International Space Station.

Russia’s ISS Progress 80 cargo craft will roll out this weekend at Kazakhstan’s Baikonur Cosmodrome and begin counting down to its lift off on Feb. 14 at 11:25 p.m. EST. The Progress 80 will orbit the Earth for just over two days before automatically docking to the Poisk module on Feb. 17 at 2:06 a.m. with nearly three tons of cargo.

Image above: (From left) Russia’s Progress cargo craft and the U.S. Cygnus space freighter are pictured approaching the station during previous cargo missions. Image Credit: NASA.

Cosmonauts Anton Shkaplerov and Pyotr Dubrov trained today on a computer for the Progress 80’s arrival. The duo from Roscosmos will be at the controls of the tele-operated robotic unit, or TORU, in the Zvezda service module monitoring the cargo craft’s approach and rendezvous. In the unlikely event the Progress 80 is unable to dock on its own, the cosmonauts will be able to use the TORU and manually guide the vehicle to a docking on Poisk.

The next cargo craft to visit the station will be Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus space freighter after it launches from Virginia on Feb. 19 at 12:40 p.m. The Cygnus will arrive at the station on Feb. 21 where it will be captured with the Canadarm2 robotic arm at 4:35 a.m. and installed to the Unity module a few hours later.

International Space Station (ISS). Animation Credit: NASA

NASA astronauts Raja Chari and Kayla Barron joined each other Friday and reviewed robotics procedures necessary to capture Cygnus after it reaches a distance of about 10 meters from the station. Chari will be in the cupola commanding the Canadarm2 to reach out and grapple Cygnus while Barron backs him up and monitors vehicle systems. Ground controllers will take over afterward and remotely guide the robotic arm with Cygnus in its grip and install the U.S. cargo craft to Unity’s Earth-facing port where it will stay for three months.

Progress MS-19 ready for launch

Related links:

Expedition 66: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition66/index.html

Poisk module: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/elements/poisk-mini-research-module-2

Zvezda service module: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/elements/zvezda-service-module.html

Canadarm2 robotic arm: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/elements/mobile-servicing-system.html

Unity module: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/elements/unity

Cupola: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/elements/cupola.html

Space Station Research and Technology: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/overview.html

International Space Station (ISS): https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html

Image (mentioned), Animation (mentioned), Text, Credits: NASA/Mark Garcia.

Best regards, Orbiter.ch

Hubble Views a Cosmic Interaction

 

NASA - Hubble Space Telescope patch.

Feb 11, 2022

This image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope feels incredibly three-dimensional for a piece of deep-space imagery. The image shows Arp 282, an interacting galaxy pair composed of the Seyfert galaxy NGC 169 (bottom) and the galaxy IC 1559 (top). Interestingly, both galaxies have monumentally energetic cores known as active galactic nuclei (AGN), although that is difficult to tell from this image, which is fortunate. If the image revealed the full emission of both AGNs, their brilliance would obscure the beautifully detailed tidal interactions we see in this image. Tidal forces occur when an object’s gravity causes another object to distort or stretch. The direction of tidal forces is away from the lower-mass object and toward the higher mass object. When two galaxies tidally interact, gas, dust, and even entire star systems can move toward one galaxy and away from the other. The image reveals this process in action as delicate streams of matter visibly link the two galaxies.

Astronomers now accept that an important aspect of how galaxies evolve is the way they interact with one another. Galaxies can merge, collide, or brush past one another – each interaction significantly affecting their shapes and structures. As common as such interactions may be, it is rare to capture an image of two galaxies interacting in such a visibly dynamic way.

Hubble Space Telescope (HST)

For more information about Hubble, visit:

http://hubblesite.org/

http://www.nasa.gov/hubble

http://www.spacetelescope.org/

Text Credits: European Space Agency (ESA)/NASA/Andrea Gianopoulos/Image, Animation Credits: ESA/Hubble & NASA, J. Dalcanton, Dark Energy Survey, Department of Energy (DOE), Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory/NoirLab/National Science Foundation/Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA), Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS); Acknowledgment: J. Schmidt.

Best regards, Orbiter.ch

NASA’s X-59 Calls on Texas for Key Testing

 

NASA - X-59 QueSST Mission patch.

Feb 11, 2022

It appears the road to enabling a future that includes convenient commercial supersonic air travel over land demands a substantial pit stop in Fort Worth, Texas.

Image above: NASA’s X-59 Quiet SuperSonic Technology airplane undergoes structural stress tests at a Lockheed Martin facility in Fort Worth, Texas. Image Credit: Lockheed Martin.

Who knew?

Aeronautical innovators at NASA and Lockheed Martin did. They have long planned for this milestone in assembling and testing the X-59 Quiet SuperSonic Technology (QueSST) airplane.

Although the X-59 QueSST is being built by Lockheed Martin at their Skunk Works facility in Palmdale, California, the airplane needed to be moved to another Lockheed facility in Texas for a series of important structural tests before returning it to the West Coast.

But let’s back up a bit.

NASA’s X-59 is a one-of-a-kind airplane designed to fly at supersonic speeds without making annoying, if not alarming, sonic booms below.

Instead, because of its unique shape, the X-59 is expected to produce quieter sonic “thumps” that can barely be heard on the ground – if at all.

Current rules prohibit aircraft from flying faster than the speed of sound over land. Those rules are based on speed, not noise. If the X-59 can publicly demonstrate that a plane can fly supersonic at an acceptable noise level, then those rules could be changed.

If that happens, NASA technology from the X-59 could be applied to new aircraft designs so commercial airlines might introduce faster-than-sound flights capable of speeding people coast-to-coast in half the time.

“That’s what we’re all working so hard to make possible,” said Walter Silva, a senior research scientist at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Virginia. He is also NASA’s structures lead for the X-59, so he is directly involved in the airplane’s Texas visit.

OK, so what’s happening in Texas?

Construction of the X-59 in California had made enough progress where all the major structural pieces – the wing, main body, tail, and nose – were assembled and power could be turned on to the vehicle for the first time.

The next major task was to make sure the airplane structure wouldn’t break apart in flight when exposed to stresses small and extreme.

Mike Buonanno, a Lockheed Martin aerospace engineer who is the company’s vehicle lead for the X-59, explained why wrapping up the X-59 and shipping it by truck to Texas in late December was the best way to prove that.

“Our Texas site has existing facilities to perform the kinds of tests needed. It would have been expensive and time consuming to design and build them from scratch in Palmdale. But in Fort Worth they’ve got the perfect facility with a full control room and all the support equipment needed to do those tests very efficiently,” Buonanno said.

The company’s Fort Worth facility is where the F-16 Fighting Falcon was built for many years. Test equipment still available needed some modifications to handle the X-59’s longer nose compared to the F-16, but those changes didn’t get in the way.

“Our folks in Fort Worth were able to hit the ground running from the moment the airplane arrived from Palmdale,” Buonanno said.

Feeling the Pressure

NASA has three goals for the X-59’s stay in Texas in terms of the structural proof tests.

“The first goal is to make sure that the airplane can handle the anticipated loads during flight,” Silva said.

Loads, in this case, mean anything that would put pressure or stress on the aircraft’s structure. Typically, these kinds of stresses come when the airplane experiences rough air, makes quick turns, and during landing – among others.

Since the airplane isn’t actually flying, tests are done with the aircraft sitting on hydraulic jacks that are connected directly with the structure. Arms that press down on areas of the airplane, such as the top of the wing, also are used.

Image above: This panoramic side view of NASA’s X-59 Quiet SuperSonic Technology airplane shows the aircraft sitting on jacks at a Lockheed Martin test facility in Fort Worth, Texas. Image Credit: Lockheed Martin.

How much stress is too much? Buonanno explained the loads applied to the X-59 are 25 percent greater than any load the airplane was designed to ever see in actual flight.

Because the X-59 isn’t a prototype for a series of aircraft, none of the tests are designed to see how much stress a part could take before it breaks. This type of “test to destruct” is seen only in large production runs where one airplane can be pulled away and sacrificed.

“In any case, there are all sorts of safety features built into the testing so that if anything we don’t want happening is detected everything shuts off and the whole thing goes into a safe position,” Silva said.

The second goal is to calibrate the sensors built into the X-59 that are designed to tell the pilot how much stress is being measured at that point on the airplane. This is done by comparing what the sensors say with the known amount of stress being applied during a test.

“The third goal is to take the data and compare it with the computer models we used in designing the airplane in the first place and make sure what we thought was going to happen turned out to be accurate and the airplane is built as designed,” Silva said.

As of the last week of January about 80 percent of the structural tests were completed, and all is well.

“Everything is passing with flying colors, and nothing is bending in a way we didn’t expect,” Buonanno said.

Still Ahead

Once all the structural tests are complete, the team – which includes NASA and Lockheed Martin representatives from Palmdale – will turn their attention to performing fuel tank calibration tests.

The X-59’s gas tanks will be filled, and fuel-remaining sensors inside will be checked, not only with the airplane sitting level but with it pitched and rolled.

When that work is completed, the X-59 will be returned to Palmdale. The exact timing of that return remains unknown for now.

“We will be in Fort Worth as long as we need to be there, until we think the data is good, and everything has been performed to everyone’s satisfaction.” Silva said.

Once back in Palmdale, the X-59 will see the rest of its major systems and subsystems installed – its GE engine, landing gear, cockpit displays, etc. – with the hope of having it ready for first flight late this year.

When that happens, the world’s focus will be on the California high desert where once again aviation history will be made.

Related links:

Low-Boom Flight Demonstration (LBFD): https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/lowboom/index.html

NASA X-59 QueSST: https://www.nasa.gov/specials/X59/

Supersonic Flight: https://www.nasa.gov/subject/7566/supersonic-flight

Aeronautics: https://www.nasa.gov/topics/aeronautics/index.html

Images (mentioned), Text, Credits: NASA/Lillian Gipson/Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate/Jim Banke.

Greetings, Orbiter.ch