Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer: prelaunch

Authors: Martin C. Weisskopf, P. Soffitta, L. Baldini, Brian D. Ramsey, Stephen L. O’Dell, Roger W. Romani, G. Matt, William D. Deininger, W. H. Baumgartner, R. Bellazzini, E. Costa, Jeffery J. Kolodziejczak, L. Latronico, Herman L. Marshall, Fabio Muleri, Stephen D. Bongiorno, Allyn F. Tennant, N. Bucciantini, Michal Dovčiak, Frédéric Marin, Alan P. Marscher, Juri Poutanen, Patrick Slane, R. Turolla, William Kalinowski, Alessandro Di Marco, Sergio Fabiani, M. Minuti, Fabio La Monaca, Michele Pinchera, John Rankin, C. Sgró, A. Trois, Fei Xie, Cheryl D. Alexander, D. Zachery Allen, Fabrizio Amici, Jason Andersen, L. A. Antonelli, Spencer Antoniak, Primo Attinà, M. Barbanera, Matteo Bachetti, Randy Baggett, Jeff Bladt, A. Brez, R. Bonino, Christopher Boree, Fabio Borotto, Shawn Breeding, Daniele Brienza, H. Kyle Bygott, Ciro Caporale, Claudia Cardelli, Rita Carpentiero, Simone Castellano, Marco Castronuovo, Luca Cavalli, E. Cavazzuti, Marco Ceccanti, Mauro Centrone, Saverio Citraro, Fabio D’Amico, Elisa D’Alba, Laura Di Gesu, E. Del Monte, Kurtis L. Dietz, Niccolò Di Lalla, Giuseppe Di Persio, David F. Dolan, I. Donnarumma, Y. Evangelista, Kevin Ferrant, Riccardo Ferrazzoli, MacKenzie Ferrie, Joseph Footdale, Brent Forsyth, Michelle Foster, Benjamin Garelick, Shuichi Gunji, Eli Gurnee, Michael Head, Grant Hibbard, Samantha Johnson, Erik Kelly, Kiranmayee Kilaru, Carlo Lefevre, Shelley Le Roy, Pasqualino Loffredo, Paolo Lorenzi, Leonardo Lucchesi, Tyler Maddox, Guido Magazzu, S. Maldera, Alberto Manfreda, Elio Mangraviti, Marco Marengo, Alessandra Marrocchesi, F. Massaro, David T. Mauger, Jeffrey McCracken, Michael McEachen, Rondal Mize, Paolo Mereu, Scott A. Mitchell, Ikuyuki Mitsuishi, Alfredo Morbidini, Federico Mosti, Hikmat Nasimi, Barbara Negri, Michela Negro, Toan T. Nguyen, Isaac Nitschke, Alessio Nuti, Mitch Onizuka, C. Oppedisano, Leonardo Orsini, Darren Osborne, Richard Pacheco, A. Paggi, Will Painter, Steven D. Pavelitz, Christina Pentz, Raffaele Piazzolla, M. Perri, M. Pesce-Rollins, Colin Peterson, M. Pilia, A. Profeti, Simonetta Puccetti, Jaganathan Ranganathan, Ajay Ratheesh, Lee Reedy, Noah Root, Alda Rubini, Stephanie Ruswick, J. Sánchez, Paolo Sarra, Francesco Santoli, Emanuele Scalise, Andrea Sciortino, Christopher Schroeder, Tim Seek, Kalie Sosdian, G. Spandre, Chet O. Speegle, Toru Tamagawa, Marcello Tardiola, Antonino Tobia, Nicholas E. Thomas, Robert Valerie, Marco Vimercati, Amy L. Walden, Bruce Weddendorf, Jeffrey Wedmore, David P Welch, Davide Zanetti, Francesco Zanetti - Journal of Astronomical Telescopes Instruments and Systems 2022 cited by 329

Launched on 2021 December 9, the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) is a NASA Small Explorer Mission in collaboration with the Italian Space Agency (ASI). The mission will open a new window of investigation—imaging x-ray polarimetry. The observatory features three identical telescopes, each consisting of a mirror module assembly with a polarization-sensitive imaging x-ray detector at the focus. A coilable boom, deployed on orbit, provides the necessary 4-m focal length. The observatory utilizes a three-axis-stabilized spacecraft, which provides services such as power, attitude determination and control, commanding, and telemetry to the ground. During its 2-year baseline mission, IXPE will conduct precise polarimetry for samples of multiple categories of x-ray sources, with follow-on observations of selected targets.