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First Operation of TES Microcalorimeters in Space with the Micro-X Sounding Rocket

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Abstract

Micro-X is a sounding rocket-borne instrument that uses a microcalorimeter array to perform high-resolution X-ray spectroscopy. This instrument flew for the first time on July 22nd, 2018, from the White Sands Missile Range, USA. This flight marks the first successful operation of a transition-edge sensor array and its time-division multiplexing readout system in space. This launch was dedicated to the observation of the supernova remnant Cassiopeia A. A failure in the attitude control system prevented the rocket from pointing and led to no time on target. The onboard calibration source provided X-rays in flight, and it is used to compare detector performance during preflight integration, flight, and after the successful post-flight recovery. This calibration data demonstrate the capabilities of the detector in a space environment as well as its potential for future flights.

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Notes

  1. The supernova remnant considered for this mission depends on the time of the year. The primary target (Puppis A) is not visible during the summer, so the secondary target was chosen for the first flight.

  2. The silicon mesh provides mechanical support to the aluminum and polyimide films for the filters with larger diameters.

  3. The integrated NEP is calculated using the optimal filter algorithm used in the XCAL GSE software discussed below, using an integral of the pulse shape and noise spectra [18].

  4. Additional pixels with partial data do not add sufficient counts to help the fit when compared to the worse drift correction arising from the shorter observation.

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Acknowledgements

The Micro-X project is conducted 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.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, 20770, USA

    J. S. Adams, R. Baker, S. R. Bandler, R. L. Kelley, C. A. Kilbourne, T. Okajima, F. S. Porter, P. Serlemitsos & S. J. Smith

  2. Department of Astronomy, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, 20742, USA

    J. S. Adams & S. J. Smith

  3. Department of Physics and Astronomy, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, 60208, USA

    N. Bastidon, E. Figueroa-Feliciano, D. C. Goldfinger, A. J. F. Hubbard & R. E. Manzagol-Harwood

  4. NASA Wallops Flight Facility, Wallops Island, VA, USA

    M. E. Danowski

  5. National Institute of Standards and Technology, 325 Broadway, Boulder, CO, 80305, USA

    W. B. Doriese, G. C. Hilton, C. D. Reintsema & J. N. Ullom

  6. Physics Division, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA, USA

    M. E. Eckart

  7. Department of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA

    D. C. Goldfinger, S. N. T. Heine & P. Wikus

  8. Department of Physics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, 53706, USA

    D. McCammon

  9. Bruker BioSpin AG, Fallanden, Switzerland

    P. Wikus

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  1. J. S. Adams
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  2. R. Baker
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  4. N. Bastidon
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  5. M. E. Danowski
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  7. M. E. Eckart
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  8. E. Figueroa-Feliciano
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  9. D. C. Goldfinger
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  10. S. N. T. Heine
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  13. R. L. Kelley
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  14. C. A. Kilbourne
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  16. D. McCammon
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  17. T. Okajima
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  18. F. S. Porter
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  19. C. D. Reintsema
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  20. P. Serlemitsos
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  21. S. J. Smith
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  22. J. N. Ullom
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  23. P. Wikus
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to N. Bastidon or D. C. Goldfinger.

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Adams, J.S., Baker, R., Bandler, S.R. et al. First Operation of TES Microcalorimeters in Space with the Micro-X Sounding Rocket. J Low Temp Phys 199, 1062–1071 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10909-019-02293-5

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