IXPE Mission System and Development Status
Autor: | Martin C. Weisskopf, Darren Osborne, Spencer Antoniak, Allyn F. Tennant, Michele Pinchera, Alessio Trois, William D. Deininger, Kevin Ferrant, Stephen L. O'Dell, James Masciarelli, William Kalinowski, Michael Head, Rondal Mize, Brian D. Ramsey, Benjamin Garelick, James Tony Moore, Tim Seek, Paolo Soffitta, Luca Baldini, Colin Peterson, Mitch Onizuka, Fabio Muleri, Christopher Boree, Ettore Del Monte, Francesco Santoli, Tyler Maddox, Christopher Schroeder |
---|---|
Rok vydání: | 2021 |
Předmět: |
Spacecraft
Computer science business.industry Payload Astrophysics::High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena Detector Astrophysics::Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics Space physics 01 natural sciences Space exploration 010309 optics Observatory 0103 physical sciences Orbit (dynamics) System integration Astrophysics::Earth and Planetary Astrophysics Aerospace engineering business 010303 astronomy & astrophysics |
Zdroj: | 2021 IEEE Aerospace Conference (50100). |
DOI: | 10.1109/aero50100.2021.9438239 |
Popis: | IXPE, an international collaboration, will conduct x-ray imaging polarimetry for multiple categories of cosmic x-ray sources such as neutron stars, stellar-mass black holes, supernova remnants and active galactic nuclei. The Observatory uses a single science operational mode capturing the x-ray data from the targets. This paper summarizes the IXPE Mission System: Observatory, Launch Segment and Ground System. The IXPE Observatory consists of spacecraft and payload modules built up in parallel to form the Observatory during system integration and test. The payload includes three x-ray telescopes each consisting of a polarization-sensitive, gas pixel x-ray detector, paired with its corresponding grazing incidence mirror module assembly (MMA), x-ray optics set. A deployable boom provides the correct separation (focal length) between the detector units (DU) and MMAs. These payload elements are supported by the IXPE spacecraft which is derived from the BCP-small spacecraft architecture. IXPE is launched to a circular LEO orbit at an altitude of 600 km and an inclination of -0.2 degrees by a Falcon 9 launch vehicle. The ground system consists of three major elements: the ground stations for data receipt and command upload to the Observatory; the Mission Operations Center (MOC) at University of Colorado Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (CU/LASP); and Science Operations Center (SOC) at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC). This paper summarizes the IXPE mission science objectives, updates the Observatory implementation concept including the payload and spacecraft elements, covers the launch segment, ground system and summarizes the mission status since last year's conference including COVID impacts. |
Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
Externí odkaz: |