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NASA's newest X-ray telescope rockets into orbit

Photographers follow a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket during a time exposure as it lifts off from Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., on Dec. 9, 2021. (John Raoux / AP) Photographers follow a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket during a time exposure as it lifts off from Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., on Dec. 9, 2021. (John Raoux / AP)
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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -

NASA's newest X-ray observatory rocketed into orbit Thursday to shed light on exploded stars, black holes and other violent high-energy events unfolding in the universe.

SpaceX launched the spacecraft on its US$214 million mission from Kennedy Space Center. It's called IXPE, short for Imaging X-ray Polarization Explorer.

Scientists said the observatory -- actually three telescopes in one -- will unveil the most dramatic and extreme parts of the universe as never before.

"IXPE is going to open a new window on the X-ray sky," Brian Ramsey, NASA's deputy principal scientist, said this week.

Operations should begin next month. NASA is partnering with the Italian Space Agency on the project.

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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content

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