TY - GEN
T1 - First operation of transition-edge sensors in space with the Micro-X sounding rocket
AU - Adams, Joseph S.
AU - Baker, Robert
AU - Bandler, Simon R.
AU - Bastidon, Noëmie
AU - Danowski, Meredith E.
AU - Doriese, William B.
AU - Eckart, Megan E.
AU - Figueroa-Feliciano, Enectalí
AU - Fuhrman, Joshua
AU - Goldfinger, David C.
AU - Heine, Sarah N.T.
AU - Hilton, Gene C.
AU - Hubbard, Antonia J.F.
AU - Jardin, Daniel
AU - Kelley, Richard L.
AU - Kilbourne, Caroline A.
AU - Manzagol-Harwood, Renée E.
AU - McCammon, Dan
AU - Okajima, Takashi
AU - Porter, Frederick S.
AU - Reintsema, Carl D.
AU - Serlemitsos, Peter
AU - Smith, Stephen J.
AU - Wikus, Patrick
N1 - Funding Information:
We gratefully acknowledge the technical support of Ernie Buchanan, John Bussan, Travis Coffroad, Sam Gabelt, Rob Hamersma, Kurt Jaehnig, Frank Lantz, Ken Simms, Tomomi Watanabe, George Winkert, and the WFF team. Micro-X operates under NASA Grant 80NSSC18K1445. Part of this work was performed under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory under Contract DE-AC52-07NA27344.
Publisher Copyright:
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PY - 2020
Y1 - 2020
N2 - With its first flight in 2018, Micro-X became the first program to fly Transition-Edge Sensors and their SQUID readouts in space. The science goal was a high-resolution, spatially resolved X-ray spectrum of the Cassiopeia A Supernova Remnant. While a rocket pointing error led to no time on target, the data was used to demonstrate the flight performance of the instrument. The detectors observed X-rays from the on-board calibration source, but a susceptibility to external magnetic fields limited their livetime. Accounting for this, no change was observed in detector response between ground operation and flight operation. This paper provides an overview of the first flight performance and focuses on the upgrades made in preparation for reflight. The largest changes have been upgrading the SQUIDs to mitigate magnetic susceptibility, synchronizing the clocks on the digital electronics to minimize beat frequencies, and replacing the mounts between the cryostat and the rocket skin to improve mechanical integrity. As the first flight performance was consistent with performance on the ground, reaching the instrument goals in the laboratory is considered a strong predictor of future flight performance.
AB - With its first flight in 2018, Micro-X became the first program to fly Transition-Edge Sensors and their SQUID readouts in space. The science goal was a high-resolution, spatially resolved X-ray spectrum of the Cassiopeia A Supernova Remnant. While a rocket pointing error led to no time on target, the data was used to demonstrate the flight performance of the instrument. The detectors observed X-rays from the on-board calibration source, but a susceptibility to external magnetic fields limited their livetime. Accounting for this, no change was observed in detector response between ground operation and flight operation. This paper provides an overview of the first flight performance and focuses on the upgrades made in preparation for reflight. The largest changes have been upgrading the SQUIDs to mitigate magnetic susceptibility, synchronizing the clocks on the digital electronics to minimize beat frequencies, and replacing the mounts between the cryostat and the rocket skin to improve mechanical integrity. As the first flight performance was consistent with performance on the ground, reaching the instrument goals in the laboratory is considered a strong predictor of future flight performance.
KW - Microcalorimeter
KW - Sounding rocket
KW - Transition-edge sensor
KW - X-ray spectroscopy
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U2 - 10.1117/12.2562645
DO - 10.1117/12.2562645
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:85099376058
T3 - Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering
BT - X-Ray, Optical, and Infrared Detectors for Astronomy IX
A2 - Holland, Andrew D.
A2 - Beletic, James
PB - SPIE
T2 - X-Ray, Optical, and Infrared Detectors for Astronomy IX 2020
Y2 - 14 December 2020 through 22 December 2020
ER -