The U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has awarded SpaceX, a private aerospace company, a contract to send into space equipment — a visual X-ray polarimetric explorer (Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer, IXPE) — to study the high-energy radiation from black holes, neutron stars and pulsars.
The $188 million mission is designed to help scientists study magnetars (a special type of neutron stars with particularly powerful magnetic fields), black holes, and "pulsar wind nebulae" that are often found in supernova remnants.
According to the terms of the contract with a total value of $50,3 million, the launch of NASA equipment will be carried out in April 2021 on a Falcon 9 rocket from the site of the launch complex 39A of the Space Center. Kennedy in Florida.
Source: 3dnews.ru