The SPARTAN 1 Collimated X-Ray Detector System.
Abstract
This memorandum documents the design testing and flight performance of the finely collimated x-ray detector system flown on the SPARTAN 1 mission. The SPARTAN program, an outgrowth of a joint Naval Research Laboratory (NRL)/National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) - Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) development effort, was instituted by NASA as a means of launching autonomous, recoverable, pointed space science payloads from the shuttle. SPARTAN 1, carrying an NRL x-ray astronomy instrument, was launched by the orbiter Discovery (STS-51G) on June 20, 1985 and recovered 45 hours later on June 22. The instrument, designed to provide both good spatial and spectral resolution, comprised two large proportional counters, an outgrowth of the NRL sounding rocket program, equipped with fine collimators. They provided an effective collecting area of 660 cm2, a photon energy range of 1-12 keV, and a field of view 5 arc minutes wide (FWHM) and 3 degrees long. The precise pointing of the SPARTAN 1 payload was calibrated by two 35 mm cameras, developed at NRL, which were coaligned with the collimator assembly. The mission was highly successful and yielded spectrally resolved x ray images of the Perseus cluster of galaxies and the galactic center.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Aug 07, 1995
- Accession Number
- ADA298809
Entities
People
- E. E. Fenimore
- E. Serna
- G. G. Fritz
- Melville P. Ulmer
- R. G. Cruddace
Organizations
- United States Naval Research Laboratory