Axis and Prima compete for a billion dollars

Technical representation of the axis (left) and prima (right)

Names of the two space telescopes that will compete in the final of Probe Explorers, a new program for mid-range “medium-sized” science missions. Major And those small. The amount offered is $1 billion (excluding carrier and launch costs) to build the satellite and potentially go into space as early as 2032. Axis and Prima will compete for the prestigious prize. axisabbreviation for Advanced X-ray imaging satelliteis a wide-field X-ray telescope, with Principal investigator Christopher Reynolds Dela University of Maryland. Quanto A Primaabbreviation for Far-infrared probe for astrophysicsis instead a far-infrared telescope, and Principal investigator Jason Glenn of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center

As of today, both proposals are entering what is called “Phase A” — the final stage: each of the teams will receive $5 million to conduct a 12-month study on the mission concept. In 2026, after a detailed evaluation of these studies, NASA will choose the winner, and the construction process will begin. Launch, we used to say, starting in 2032.

Nico Capellotti (University of Miami), member of the hub’s scientific team

But what kind of telescopes are these? Enaf media He asked two Italian astrophysicists who are part of the two teams of scientists: Nico Capellottiprofessor at the University of Miami (USA) and INF collaborator, member of the scientific axis team, H Carlotta Gruppioniastrophysicist at INAF in Bologna, among others Co-investigator From Prima.

“Thanks to its innovative ability to obtain high-resolution X-ray images across a wide field of view and its sensitivity to very faint objects,” he explains. Hats“The axis will study the first supermassive black holes. Understanding how they formed and how they contributed to the evolution of the first galaxies remains a mystery. This problem can only be solved by combining infrared probes – such as those made with Jwst, Romanian and Euclid – with observations in the X-ray band, which was able to provide information where these bands fail. However, currently available telescopes are not sensitive enough for this type of study. The hub will also help us maintain an active scientific community in the study of X-ray astronomy, which has already achieved exceptional results over the years thanks to the Chandra and Xmm-Newton telescopes.

Carlotta Gropioni (National Institute of Astrophysics), Prima Research Associate

“We are excited to see Prima progress to the next stage,” he says. Groups“It is a very important goal for the entire astronomical community, which has long requested a mission in the mid/far-infrared: the last mission was ESA’s Herschel mission, launched 15 years ago now. It will first cover a wide spectral range, from 24 to 261 microns: A critical region of the spectrum between the near-infrared, covered by JWST, and the radio/submillimeter waves, covered by ALMA, which does not suffer from the dark effects of interstellar dust, which influences it instead “On optical and ultraviolet radiation, it allows us to study the dark stages of the formation and evolution of galaxies, supermassive black holes, planetary systems and their atmospheres, and dust and metals (elements heavier than hydrogen) throughout cosmic time.”

As for the Italian contribution to the two proposals, we would like to remind you that the scientific axis team also includes Stefano Marchesi from the University of Bologna, the brain among them. Co-investigator Di Prima, in addition to Grupione, there is another researcher from the National Institute of Astrophysics: Anna Di Giorgio. If Prima is chosen, it will be up to the Italian Space Agency to provide the so-called Warm payload drive and data processing electronicswho manages everything load Scientific communication with nine modules on board, and a high gain antenna with respondentnecessary for high-speed transmission Data rate For the large amount of data acquired on board.

To learn more about the two proposals: