Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer

The Neutron Star Interior Composition ExploreR (NICER) is a NASA telescope on the International Space Station, designed and dedicated to the study of the extraordinary gravitational, electromagnetic, and nuclear physics environments embodied by neutron stars, exploring the exotic states of matter where density and pressure are higher than in atomic nuclei. As part of NASA's Explorer program, NICER enabled rotation-resolved spectroscopy of the thermal and non-thermal emissions of neutron stars in the soft X-ray (0.2–12 keV) band with unprecedented sensitivity, probing interior structure, the origins of dynamic phenomena, and the mechanisms that underlie the most powerful cosmic particle accelerators known.[3] NICER achieved these goals by deploying, following the launch, and activation of X-ray timing and spectroscopy instruments. NICER was selected by NASA to proceed to formulation phase in April 2013.[4]

NICER
NICER telescope mounted on the Integrated Truss Structure of the International Space Station
Mission typeNeutron star astrophysics
OperatorNASA / GSFC / MIT
Websitehttps://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/nicer/
Mission duration18 months (planned)
6 years, 4 months and 23 days (in progress)
Spacecraft properties
Launch mass372 kg (820 lb) [1]
Start of mission
Launch date3 June 2017, 21:07:38 UTC[2]
RocketFalcon 9 Full Thrust, B1035.1
Launch siteKennedy Space Center, LC-39A
ContractorSpaceX
Orbital parameters
Reference systemGeocentric orbit
RegimeLow Earth orbit
Perigee altitude402 km (250 mi)
Apogee altitude407 km (253 mi)
Inclination51.64°
Period92.66 minutes
Instruments
X-ray Timing Instrument (XTI)

NICER * SEXTANT mission patch
Explorer program
 

NICER-SEXTANT uses the same instrument to test X-ray timing for positioning and navigation,[5] and MXS is a test of X-ray timing communication.[6] In January 2018, X-ray navigation was demonstrated using NICER on ISS.[7]

Launch

By May 2015, NICER was on track for a 2016 launch, having passed its critical design review (CDR) and resolved an issue with the power being supplied by the ISS.[8] Following the loss of SpaceX CRS-7 in June 2015, which delayed future missions by several months, NICER was finally launched on 3 June 2017,[2] with the SpaceX CRS-11 ISS resupply mission aboard a Falcon 9 v1.2 launch vehicle.[9]

Science instrument

NICER's primary science instrument, called the X-ray Timing Instrument (XTI), is an array of 56 X-ray photon detectors. These detectors record the energies of the collected photons as well as with their time of arrival. A Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver enables accurate timing and positioning measurements. X-ray photons can be time-tagged with a precision of less than 300 ns.[10] In August 2022 a fast X-ray follow-up observation program was started with the MAXI instrument named "OHMAN (On-orbit Hookup of MAXI and NICER)" to detect sudden bursts in X-ray phenomena.[11]

During each ISS orbit, NICER will observe two to four targets. Gimbaling and a star tracker allow NICER to track specific targets while collecting science data. In order to achieve its science objectives, NICER will take over 15 million seconds of exposures over an 18-month period.[12]

X-ray navigation and communication experiments

An enhancement to the NICER mission, the Station Explorer for X-ray Timing and Navigation Technology (SEXTANT), will act as a technology demonstrator for X-ray pulsar-based navigation (XNAV) techniques that may one day be used for deep-space navigation.[13]

XCOM

As part of NICER testing, a rapid-modulation X-ray device was developed called Modulated X-ray Source (MXS), which is being used to create an X-ray communication system (XCOM) demonstration. If approved and installed on the ISS, XCOM will transmit data encoded into X-ray bursts to the NICER platform, which may lead to the development of technologies that allow for gigabit bandwidth communication throughout the Solar System.[6] As of February 2019 the XCOM test is scheduled for spring 2019.[14] XCOM (inc MXS) was delivered to the ISS in May 2019.[15] Once the test was complete XCOM and the STP-H6 payload malfunctioned in September 2021. It was removed in November 2021 and disposed of on Cygnus NG-16. [16]

Selected results

In May 2018, NICER discovered an X-ray pulsar in the fastest stellar orbit yet discovered.[17] The pulsar and its companion star were found to orbit each other every 38 minutes.[17]

On 21 August 2019 (UTC; 20 August in the U.S.), NICER spotted the brightest X-ray burst so far observed.[18] It came from the neutron star SAX J1808.4−3658 about 11,000 light-years from Earth in the constellation Sagittarius.

  • Launch of CRS-11 with NICER aboard
    Launch of CRS-11 with NICER aboard
  • NICER extracted from Dragon's trunk at ISS
    NICER extracted from Dragon's trunk at ISS
  • Array of X-ray lenses
    Array of X-ray lenses
  • Labeled diagram of NICER
    Labeled diagram of NICER

See also

References
  1. "SpaceX CRS-11 Mission Overview" (PDF). NASA. Retrieved 3 June 2017. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  2. Clark, Stephen (3 June 2017). "Reused Dragon cargo capsule launched on journey to space station". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved 3 June 2017.
  3. Gendreau, Keith C.; Arzoumanian, Zaven; Okajima, Takashi (September 2012). Takahashi, Tadayuki; Murray, Stephen S.; Den Herder, Jan-Willem A. (eds.). "The Neutron star Interior Composition ExploreR (NICER): an Explorer mission of opportunity for soft X-ray timing spectroscopy" (PDF). Proceedings of the SPIE: Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2012, Ultraviolet to Gamma Ray. Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2012: Ultraviolet to Gamma Ray. 8443: 844313. Bibcode:2012SPIE.8443E..13G. doi:10.1117/12.926396. S2CID 119892783.
  4. Harrington, J. D. (5 April 2013). "NASA Selects Explorer Investigations for Formulation" (Press release). NASA. Retrieved 23 April 2013.
  5. Garner, Rob (17 July 2017). "NASA Neutron Star Mission Begins Science Operations". NASA. Retrieved 26 January 2018.
  6. Keesey, Lori (4 November 2016). "NASA's NavCube Could Support an X-ray Communications Demonstration in Space — A NASA First". NASA. Retrieved 5 November 2016. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  7. "ISS Utilization: NICER/SEXTANT". eoPortal. European Space Agency. Archived from the original on 8 February 2021. Retrieved 26 January 2018.
  8. Keesey, Lori (12 May 2015). "NASA's Multi-Purpose NICER/SEXTANT Mission on Track for 2016 Launch". NASA. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
  9. "NICER Manifested on SpaceX-11 ISS Resupply Flight". NICER News. NASA. 1 December 2015. Retrieved 14 June 2017. Previously scheduled for a December 2016 launch on SpaceX CRS-12, NICER will now fly to the International Space Station with two other payloads on SpaceX Commercial Resupply Services (CRS)-11, in the Dragon vehicle's unpressurized Trunk. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  10. Gendreau; et al. (2012). "The Neutron star Interior Composition ExploreR (NICER): an Explorer mission of opportunity for soft x-ray timing spectroscopy" (PDF). Each photon detected by NICER is time-tagged with an absolute precision of much better than 300 nanoseconds Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  11. "OHMAN (On-orbit Hookup of MAXI And NICER) has started! - immediate X-ray follow-up program combining JAXA and NASA instruments on ISS". ISAS. Retrieved 13 January 2023.
  12. "NICER: Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer" (PDF). NASAFacts. NASA. Retrieved 14 June 2017. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  13. Mitchell, Jason W.; Hassouneh, Munther A.; Winternitz, Luke M. B.; Valdez, Jennifer E.; Price, Samuel R.; et al. (January 2015). SEXTANT - Station Explorer for X-ray Timing and Navigation Technology. AIAA Guidance, Navigation, and Control Conference. 5–9 January 2015 Kissimmee, Florida. GSFC-E-DAA-TN19095; 20150001327.
  14. NASA set to demonstrate X-ray communications in space February 2019
  15. X-ray communications experiment delivered to space station May 2019
  16. "STP-H6". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 30 July 2022.
  17. Garner, Rob (10 May 2018). "X-ray Pulsar Found in Record-fast Orbit". NASA. Retrieved 12 May 2018. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  18. NICER Telescope Spots Brightest X-Ray Burst Ever Observed

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