The Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER): design and development
During 2014 and 2015, NASA's Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) mission proceeded successfully through Phase C, Design and Development. An X-ray (0.2-12 keV) astrophysics payload destined for the International Space Station, NICER is manifested for launch in early 2017 on the Co...
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| Format: | Article |
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SPIE
2018
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/116818 |
| _version_ | 1810973671107330048 |
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| author | Egan, Mark Malonis, Andrew C. Prigozhin, Gregory Remillard, Ronald A Vezie, Michael L. Villasenor, Jesus Noel Samonte Foster, Richard F. La Marr, Beverly J. |
| author2 | MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research |
| author_facet | MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research Egan, Mark Malonis, Andrew C. Prigozhin, Gregory Remillard, Ronald A Vezie, Michael L. Villasenor, Jesus Noel Samonte Foster, Richard F. La Marr, Beverly J. |
| author_sort | Egan, Mark |
| collection | MIT |
| description | During 2014 and 2015, NASA's Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) mission proceeded successfully through Phase C, Design and Development. An X-ray (0.2-12 keV) astrophysics payload destined for the International Space Station, NICER is manifested for launch in early 2017 on the Commercial Resupply Services SpaceX-11 flight. Its scientific objectives are to investigate the internal structure, dynamics, and energetics of neutron stars, the densest objects in the universe. During Phase C, flight components including optics, detectors, the optical bench, pointing actuators, electronics, and others were subjected to environmental testing and integrated to form the flight payload. A custom-built facility was used to co-align and integrate the X-ray "concentrator" optics and silicon-drift detectors. Ground calibration provided robust performance measures of the optical (at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center) and detector (at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology) subsystems, while comprehensive functional tests prior to payload-level environmental testing met all instrument performance requirements. We describe here the implementation of NICER's major subsystems, summarize their performance and calibration, and outline the component-level testing that was successfully applied. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T08:11:17Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/116818 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T08:11:17Z |
| publishDate | 2018 |
| publisher | SPIE |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/1168182022-09-30T08:09:32Z The Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER): design and development Egan, Mark Malonis, Andrew C. Prigozhin, Gregory Remillard, Ronald A Vezie, Michael L. Villasenor, Jesus Noel Samonte Foster, Richard F. La Marr, Beverly J. MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research Egan, Mark Foster, Richard F La Marr, Beverly J Malonis, Andrew C. Prigozhin, Gregory Remillard, Ronald A Vezie, Michael L. Villasenor, Jesus Noel Samonte During 2014 and 2015, NASA's Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) mission proceeded successfully through Phase C, Design and Development. An X-ray (0.2-12 keV) astrophysics payload destined for the International Space Station, NICER is manifested for launch in early 2017 on the Commercial Resupply Services SpaceX-11 flight. Its scientific objectives are to investigate the internal structure, dynamics, and energetics of neutron stars, the densest objects in the universe. During Phase C, flight components including optics, detectors, the optical bench, pointing actuators, electronics, and others were subjected to environmental testing and integrated to form the flight payload. A custom-built facility was used to co-align and integrate the X-ray "concentrator" optics and silicon-drift detectors. Ground calibration provided robust performance measures of the optical (at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center) and detector (at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology) subsystems, while comprehensive functional tests prior to payload-level environmental testing met all instrument performance requirements. We describe here the implementation of NICER's major subsystems, summarize their performance and calibration, and outline the component-level testing that was successfully applied. 2018-07-06T14:15:59Z 2018-07-06T14:15:59Z 2016-06 2018-04-24T16:37:41Z Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/ConferencePaper http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/116818 Gendreau, Keith C., et al. "The Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER): Design and Development." Proceedings Volume 9905, Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2016: Ultraviolet to Gamma Ray, 26 June - 1 July, 2016, Edinburgh, United Kingdom, edited by Jan-Willem A. den Herder et al., SPIE, 2016, p. 99051H. © 2016 SPIE. http://dx.doi.org/10.1117/12.2231304 Proceedings Volume 9905, Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2016: Ultraviolet to Gamma Ray Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use. application/pdf SPIE SPIE |
| spellingShingle | Egan, Mark Malonis, Andrew C. Prigozhin, Gregory Remillard, Ronald A Vezie, Michael L. Villasenor, Jesus Noel Samonte Foster, Richard F. La Marr, Beverly J. The Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER): design and development |
| title | The Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER): design and development |
| title_full | The Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER): design and development |
| title_fullStr | The Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER): design and development |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER): design and development |
| title_short | The Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER): design and development |
| title_sort | neutron star interior composition explorer nicer design and development |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/116818 |
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