NASA’s NICER (Neutron star Inside Composition Explorer), an X-ray telescope on the Worldwide Area Station, has paused observations resulting from an issue with one of many motors that drives its means to trace cosmic objects.
The NICER workforce paused operations June 17 when efficiency degradation within the motor started affecting science observations. Engineers are investigating the trigger and potential options.
The telescope was put in close to the house station’s starboard photo voltaic array in 2017. The NICER mission has efficiently demonstrated a type of deep house navigation that could possibly be used for journey to Mars and past. It has additionally made groundbreaking measurements of neutron stars, which include the densest matter within the universe that we are able to measure, and revolutionized our understanding of black holes, energetic galaxies, and different mysterious phenomena in our universe.
Following Restore, NASA’s NICER Improves Daytime Measurements
A NASA X-ray telescope on the Worldwide Area Station referred to as NICER, or Neutron star Inside Composition Explorer, has regained further daytime remark capabilities because of repairs accomplished throughout a spacewalk and a reconfiguration of its detectors.
In Might 2023, NICER developed a light-weight leak by which undesirable daylight started getting into the instrument. Pictures taken from contained in the house station revealed a number of small areas of harm to the telescope’s skinny thermal shields, which block daylight whereas permitting X-rays by to the detectors. Nighttime observations had been unaffected, and with operational changes, the NICER workforce was capable of get better about 20% of station daytime observations.
In January, NASA astronaut Nick Hague put in 9 patches to cowl the most important areas of harm throughout a spacewalk. After resuming science operations, the NICER workforce decided the general stage of daylight inside NICER had considerably diminished. Nonetheless, it skilled extra visible-light interference than anticipated.
Shut-up, high-resolution images from the spacewalk allowed the workforce to see further small holes and cracks within the thermal shields that weren’t beforehand seen. These accounted for the remaining daylight intrusion.
After additional evaluation, the NICER workforce developed a novel method to regaining further daytime knowledge assortment.
Every X-ray that hits a NICER detector generates electrical cost that’s sensed by a measurement/energy unit (MPU). After so many hits, the detector resets — like emptying a cup earlier than it overflows.
Daylight also can create cost that accumulates within the detector, including water to the metaphorical cup. There was a lot daylight getting into NICER that the detectors had been filling up with cost and resetting 1000’s of instances for each X-ray detection. It overwhelmed the MPU’s means to course of the legitimate X-ray occasions.
Hague’s restore in January diminished the quantity of daylight getting into NICER, which enabled the workforce to reconfigure the MPUs to disregard the sunlight-generated resets. After preliminary testing on the bottom, the workforce up to date one MPU earlier than switching all seven. The changeover was accomplished March 12.
Together with the patches, the reconfiguration has allowed NICER to return to accumulating observations throughout greater than 70% of station daytime, because the telescope continues to assist us higher perceive the X-ray universe, together with neutron stars, black holes, and different energetic phenomena. The workforce continues to search for extra alternatives to enhance NICER’s operations.
NASA’s NICER Continues Science Operations Publish Restore
NASA crew aboard the Worldwide Area Station put in patches to the company’s NICER (Neutron star Inside Composition Explorer) mission throughout a spacewalk on Jan. 16. NICER, an X-ray telescope perched close to the station’s starboard photo voltaic array, resumed science operations later the identical day.
The patches cowl areas of NICER’s thermal shields the place injury was found in Might 2023. These skinny filters block daylight whereas permitting X-rays to cross by. After the invention, the NICER workforce restricted their observations throughout the station’s daytime to keep away from overwhelming the mission’s delicate detectors. Nighttime observations had been unaffected, and the workforce was capable of proceed accumulating knowledge for the science neighborhood to make groundbreaking measurements utilizing the instrument’s full capabilities.
The restore went in response to plan. Information since collected reveals the detectors behind the patched areas are performing higher than earlier than throughout station evening, and the general stage of daylight inside NICER throughout the daytime is diminished considerably.
Whereas NICER experiences much less interference from daylight than earlier than, after analyzing preliminary knowledge, the workforce has decided the telescope nonetheless experiences extra interference than anticipated. The put in patches cowl areas of recognized injury recognized utilizing astronomical observations and from images taken by each exterior robotic cameras and astronauts contained in the house station. Measurements collected because the restore and close-up, high-resolution images obtained throughout the spacewalk are offering new data that will level the best way towards additional daytime knowledge assortment.
Within the meantime, NICER continues operations with its full measurement capabilities throughout orbit evening to allow additional trailblazing discoveries in time area and multimessenger astrophysics.
Daylight ‘Leak’ Impacting NASA’s NICER Telescope, Science Continues
On Tuesday, Might 22, NASA’s NICER (Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer), an X-ray telescope on the Worldwide Area Station, developed a “mild leak,” by which undesirable daylight enters the instrument. Whereas analyzing incoming knowledge since then, the workforce recognized an influence to daytime observations. Nighttime observations appear to be unaffected.
The workforce suspects that not less than one of many skinny thermal shields on NICER’s 56 X-ray Concentrators has been broken, permitting daylight to succeed in its delicate detectors.
To mitigate the results on measurements, the NICER workforce has restricted daytime observations to things distant from the Solar’s place within the sky. The workforce has additionally up to date instructions to NICER that routinely decrease its sensitivity throughout the orbital day to cut back the results from daylight contamination. The workforce is evaluating these adjustments and assessing further measures to cut back the influence on science observations.
To this point, greater than 300 scientific papers have used NICER observations, and the workforce is assured that NICER will proceed to supply world-class science.
Alise Fisher
202-358-2546
alise.m.fisher@nasa.gov
NASA Headquarters, Washington
Claire Andreoli
301-286-1940
claire.andreoli@nasa.gov
NASA’s Goddard Area Flight Heart, Greenbelt, Md.