The  Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER): design and development

Keith C. Gendreau; Zaven Arzoumanian; Phillip W. Adkins; Cheryl L. Albert; John F. Anders; Andrew T. Aylward; Charles L. Baker; Erin R. Balsamo; William A. Bamford; Suyog S. Benegalrao; Daniel L. Berry; Shiraz Bhalwani; J. Kevin Black; Carl Blaurock; Ginger M. Bronke; Gary L. Brown; Jason G. Budinoff; Jeffrey D. Cantwell; Thoniel Cazeau; Philip T. Chen; Thomas G. Clement; Andrew T. Colangelo; Jerry S. Coleman; Jonathan D. Coopersmith; William E. Dehaven; John P. Doty; Mark D. Egan; Teruaki Enoto; Terry W.-M. Fan; Deneen M. Ferro; Richard Foster; Nicholas M. Galassi; Luis D. Gallo; Chris M. Green; Dave Grosh; Kong Q. Ha; Monther A. Hasouneh; Kristofer B. Heefner; Phyllis Hestnes; Lisa J. Hoge; Tawanda M. Jacobs; John L. Jørgensen; Michael A. Kaiser; James W. Kellogg; Steven J. Kenyon; Richard G. Koenecke; Robert P. Kozon; Beverly LaMarr; Mike D. Lambertson; Anne M. Larson; Steven Lentine; Jesse H. Lewis; Michael G. Lilly; Kuochia Alice Liu; Andrew Malonis; Sridhar S. Manthripragada; Craig B. Markwardt; Bryan D. Matonak; Isaac E. Mcginnis; Roger L. Miller; Alissa L. Mitchell; Jason W. Mitchell; Jelila S. Mohammed; Charles A. Monroe; Kristina M. Montt de Garcia; Peter D. Mulé; Louis T. Nagao; Son N. Ngo; Eric D. Norris; Dwight A. Norwood; Joseph Novotka; Takashi Okajima; Lawrence G. Olsen; Chimaobi O. Onyeachu; Henry Y. Orosco; Jacqualine R. Peterson; Kristina N. Pevear; Karen K. Pham; Sue E. Pollard; John S. Pope; Daniel F. Powers; Charles E. Powers; Samuel R. Price; Gregory Y. Prigozhin; Julian B. Ramirez; Winston J. Reid; Ronald A. Remillard; Eric M. Rogstad; Glenn P. Rosecrans; John N. Rowe; Jennifer A. Sager; Claude A. Sanders; Bruce Savadkin; Maxine R. Saylor; Alexander F. Schaeffer; Nancy S. Schweiss; Sean R. Semper; Peter J. Serlemitsos; Larry V. Shackelford; Yang Soong; Jonathan Struebel; Michael L. Vezie; Joel S. Villasenor; Luke B. Winternitz; George I. Wofford; Michael R. Wright; Mike Y. Yang; Wayne H. Yu

doi:10.1117/12.2231304

22 July 2016 The Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER): design and development

Keith C. Gendreau, Zaven Arzoumanian, Phillip W. Adkins, Cheryl L. Albert, John F. Anders, Andrew T. Aylward, Charles L. Baker, Erin R. Balsamo, William A. Bamford, Suyog S. Benegalrao, Daniel L. Berry, Shiraz Bhalwani, J. Kevin Black, Carl Blaurock, Ginger M. Bronke, Gary L. Brown, Jason G. Budinoff, Jeffrey D. Cantwell, Thoniel Cazeau, Philip T. Chen, Thomas G. Clement, Andrew T. Colangelo, Jerry S. Coleman, Jonathan D. Coopersmith, William E. Dehaven, John P. Doty, Mark D. Egan, Teruaki Enoto, Terry W.-M. Fan, Deneen M. Ferro, Richard Foster, Nicholas M. Galassi, Luis D. Gallo, Chris M. Green, Dave Grosh, Kong Q. Ha, Monther A. Hasouneh, Kristofer B. Heefner, Phyllis Hestnes, Lisa J. Hoge, Tawanda M. Jacobs, John L. Jørgensen, Michael A. Kaiser, James W. Kellogg, Steven J. Kenyon, Richard G. Koenecke, Robert P. Kozon, Beverly LaMarr, Mike D. Lambertson, Anne M. Larson, Steven Lentine, Jesse H. Lewis, Michael G. Lilly, Kuochia Alice Liu, Andrew Malonis, Sridhar S. Manthripragada, Craig B. Markwardt, Bryan D. Matonak, Isaac E. Mcginnis, Roger L. Miller, Alissa L. Mitchell, Jason W. Mitchell, Jelila S. Mohammed, Charles A. Monroe, Kristina M. Montt de Garcia, Peter D. Mulé, Louis T. Nagao, Son N. Ngo, Eric D. Norris, Dwight A. Norwood, Joseph Novotka, Takashi Okajima, Lawrence G. Olsen, Chimaobi O. Onyeachu, Henry Y. Orosco, Jacqualine R. Peterson, Kristina N. Pevear, Karen K. Pham, Sue E. Pollard, John S. Pope, Daniel F. Powers, Charles E. Powers, Samuel R. Price, Gregory Y. Prigozhin, Julian B. Ramirez, Winston J. Reid, Ronald A. Remillard, Eric M. Rogstad, Glenn P. Rosecrans, John N. Rowe, Jennifer A. Sager, Claude A. Sanders, Bruce Savadkin, Maxine R. Saylor, Alexander F. Schaeffer, Nancy S. Schweiss, Sean R. Semper, Peter J. Serlemitsos, Larry V. Shackelford, Yang Soong, Jonathan Struebel, Michael L. Vezie, Joel S. Villasenor, Luke B. Winternitz, George I. Wofford, Michael R. Wright, Mike Y. Yang, Wayne H. Yu

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 9905, Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2016: Ultraviolet to Gamma Ray; 99051H (2016) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2231304
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2016, Edinburgh, United Kingdom

Abstract

During 2014 and 2015, NASA's Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) mission proceeded success- fully 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 "con- centrator" 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.

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Keith C. Gendreau, Zaven Arzoumanian, Phillip W. Adkins, Cheryl L. Albert, John F. Anders, Andrew T. Aylward, Charles L. Baker, Erin R. Balsamo, William A. Bamford, Suyog S. Benegalrao, Daniel L. Berry, Shiraz Bhalwani, J. Kevin Black, Carl Blaurock, Ginger M. Bronke, Gary L. Brown, Jason G. Budinoff, Jeffrey D. Cantwell, Thoniel Cazeau, Philip T. Chen, Thomas G. Clement, Andrew T. Colangelo, Jerry S. Coleman, Jonathan D. Coopersmith, William E. Dehaven, John P. Doty, Mark D. Egan, Teruaki Enoto, Terry W.-M. Fan, Deneen M. Ferro, Richard Foster, Nicholas M. Galassi, Luis D. Gallo, Chris M. Green, Dave Grosh, Kong Q. Ha, Monther A. Hasouneh, Kristofer B. Heefner, Phyllis Hestnes, Lisa J. Hoge, Tawanda M. Jacobs, John L. Jørgensen, Michael A. Kaiser, James W. Kellogg, Steven J. Kenyon, Richard G. Koenecke, Robert P. Kozon, Beverly LaMarr, Mike D. Lambertson, Anne M. Larson, Steven Lentine, Jesse H. Lewis, Michael G. Lilly, Kuochia Alice Liu, Andrew Malonis, Sridhar S. Manthripragada, Craig B. Markwardt, Bryan D. Matonak, Isaac E. Mcginnis, Roger L. Miller, Alissa L. Mitchell, Jason W. Mitchell, Jelila S. Mohammed, Charles A. Monroe, Kristina M. Montt de Garcia, Peter D. Mulé, Louis T. Nagao, Son N. Ngo, Eric D. Norris, Dwight A. Norwood, Joseph Novotka, Takashi Okajima, Lawrence G. Olsen, Chimaobi O. Onyeachu, Henry Y. Orosco, Jacqualine R. Peterson, Kristina N. Pevear, Karen K. Pham, Sue E. Pollard, John S. Pope, Daniel F. Powers, Charles E. Powers, Samuel R. Price, Gregory Y. Prigozhin, Julian B. Ramirez, Winston J. Reid, Ronald A. Remillard, Eric M. Rogstad, Glenn P. Rosecrans, John N. Rowe, Jennifer A. Sager, Claude A. Sanders, Bruce Savadkin, Maxine R. Saylor, Alexander F. Schaeffer, Nancy S. Schweiss, Sean R. Semper, Peter J. Serlemitsos, Larry V. Shackelford, Yang Soong, Jonathan Struebel, Michael L. Vezie, Joel S. Villasenor, Luke B. Winternitz, George I. Wofford, Michael R. Wright, Mike Y. Yang, and Wayne H. Yu "The Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER): design and development", Proc. SPIE 9905, Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2016: Ultraviolet to Gamma Ray, 99051H (22 July 2016); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2231304

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