NASA's IXPE Satellite Receives Bruno Rossi Prize 2024

IXPE satellite received the award (photo: dock. NASA)

JAKARTA The Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) satellite belonging to the United States Aeronautics and Space Agency (NASA) received the highest award in the field of high energy astronomy.

This award was awarded by the High Energy Astrophysics division of the American Astronomical Society (ASS). They handed over Bruno Rossi Prize 2024, a gift made to honor contributors in the field of high-level astrophysics.

Bruno Rossi Prize 2024 was handed over to NASA's retired Astophysicist Martin Weisskopf, mission leader IXPE. According to AAS, IXPE has advanced scientists' understanding of emissions originating from astrophysical shocks, black holes, and neutron stars.

IXPE is a realization of decades of hard work and belief in the importance of X-ray polarization measurements for X-ray astronomy. I am honored and excited to share these gifts with Paolo Soffitta and the rest of the IXPE team, "said Weisskopf.

Meanwhile, Italian Space Agency Main Investigator Paolo Soffitta said that the IXPE satellite is a successful collaboration between Italy and the United States. This satellite is expected to last for the next 30 years.

"It is extraordinary to receive this award with Martin Weisskopf and on behalf of many people whose expertise and enthusiasm have allowed breakthroughs in this astrophysics," said Soffitta.

IXPE is an international partnership to observe X-ray emissions from the strong cosmos phenomenon. The satellite was launched in December 2021 and placed at a distance of 340 miles from Earth's surface.

The mission was supposed to be completed in 2023, but NASA extended its mission for 20 months until September 2025. The extension of this mission came after the IXPE detected an unexpected cosmos event at the end of 2022.