Status of the Micro-X Sounding Rocket X-Ray Spectrometer

Goldfinger, D. C.; Adams, J. S.; Baker, R.; Bandler, S. R.; Danowski, M. E.; Doriese, W. B.; Eckart, M. E.; Figueroa-Feliciano, E.; Hilton, G. C.; Hubbard, A. J. F.; Kelley, R. L.; Kilbourne, C. A.; McCammon, D.; Okajima, T.; Porter, F. S.; Reintsema, C. D.; Serlemitsos, P.; Smith, S. J.; Heine, S. N. T.; Wikus, P.

NASA NTRS · 20170005573

Status of the Micro-X Sounding Rocket X-Ray Spectrometer

Abstract

Micro-X is a sounding rocket borne X-ray telescope that utilizes transition edge sensors to perform imaging spectroscopy with a high level of energy resolution. Its 2.1m focal length X-ray optic has an effective area of 300 sq cm, a field of view of 11.8 arcmin, and a bandpass of 0.12.5 keV. The detector array has 128 pixels and an intrinsic energy resolution of 4.5 eV FWHM. The integration of the system has progressed with functional tests of the detectors and electronics complete, and performance characterization of the detectors is underway. We present an update of ongoing progress in preparation for the upcoming launch of the instrument.

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X-ray astronomy Microcalorimeter Transition Edge Sensors Micro-X Sounding Rocket Cryogenics

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Goldfinger, D. C., Adams, J. S., Baker, R., Bandler, S. R., Danowski, M. E., Doriese, W. B., Eckart, M. E., Figueroa-Feliciano, E., Hilton, G. C., Hubbard, A. J. F., Kelley, R. L., Kilbourne, C. A., McCammon, D., Okajima, T., Porter, F. S., Reintsema, C. D., Serlemitsos, P., Smith, S. J., Heine, S. N. T., Wikus, P.. 2016-08-26. Status of the Micro-X Sounding Rocket X-Ray Spectrometer. https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/20170005573

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