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Regolith X-Ray Imaging Spectrometer (REXIS) Aboard the OSIRIS-REx Asteroid Sample Return Mission

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Abstract

The Regolith X-ray Imaging Spectrometer (REXIS) is the student collaboration experiment proposed and built by an MIT-Harvard team, launched aboard NASA’s OSIRIS-REx asteroid sample return mission. REXIS complements the scientific investigations of other OSIRIS-REx instruments by determining the relative abundances of key elements present on the asteroid’s surface by measuring the X-ray fluorescence spectrum (stimulated by the natural solar X-ray flux) over the range of energies 0.5 to 7 keV. REXIS consists of two components: a main imaging spectrometer with a coded aperture mask and a separate solar X-ray monitor to account for the Sun’s variability. In addition to element abundance ratios (relative to Si) pinpointing the asteroid’s most likely meteorite association, REXIS also maps elemental abundance variability across the asteroid’s surface using the asteroid’s rotation as well as the spacecraft’s orbital motion. Image reconstruction at the highest resolution is facilitated by the coded aperture mask. Through this operation, REXIS will be the first application of X-ray coded aperture imaging to planetary surface mapping, making this student-built instrument a pathfinder toward future planetary exploration. To date, 60 students at the undergraduate and graduate levels have been involved with the REXIS project, with the hands-on experience translating to a dozen Master’s and Ph.D. theses and other student publications.

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Abbreviations

ADC:

analog to digital converter

CCD:

charge-coupled device

CDIO:

Conceive, Design, Implement and Operate

CDR:

Critical Design Review

CTI:

charge transfer inefficiency

CXB:

Cosmic X-ray Background

CXEL:

candidate X-ray event list

DAM:

detector assembly mount

DASS:

detector assembly support structure

DE:

Detector Electronics

EAPS:

Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences

EM:

Engineering Model

ETU:

Engineering Test Unit

FFT:

fast Fourier transform

FM:

Flight Model

FoV:

field of view

FPGA:

field programmable gate array

FWHM:

full-width at half-maximum

FWMI:

full-width maximum intensity

MEB:

Main Electronics Board

MLI:

multi-layer insulation

nCi:

nano-Curies

OBF:

optical blocking filter

OSIRIS-Rex:

Origins-Spectral Interpretation-Resource Identification-Security-Regolith Explorer

PDR:

Preliminary Design Review

QE:

quantum efficiency

REXIS:

Regolith X-ray Imaging Spectrometer

SBB:

SXM Backpack Board

SDD:

silicon drift diode

SDR:

System Definition Review

SEB:

SXM Electronics Board

SRR:

System Requirements Review

SXM:

Solar X-ray Monitor

TEC:

thermoelectric cooler

TIL:

thermal isolation layer

TVAC:

thermal-vacuum chamber

UROP:

Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program

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Acknowledgements

This work was conducted under the support of the OSIRIS-REx program through research funds from Goddard Space Flight Center. REXIS would not have been possible without supporting expertise, facilities, and mentorship at MIT Kavli Institute provided by Marshall W. Bautz and at MIT Lincoln Laboratories provided by Kevin Ryu, Keith Warner, Jim Kelly, Joe Orrender, Jeff Mendenhall, Marc Bernstein, and others. Vital expertise, critiques, and advice came through our NASA partners that included James Dailey, Joe Schepis, Dave Petrick, Blair Russell, Mike Choi, Mike Pryzby, Libby Adelman, Mary Walker, Ed Powers, Steve Battel, and Mark Kahan. While this paper details the work through launch and early checkout, we gratefully acknowledge assistance in the final preparation of this manuscript by the most recently arriving REXIS team members Carolyn Thayer, Sormeh Yazdi, Daniel Hoak, and David Guevel.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Space Systems Laboratory, Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA

    R. A. Masterson, M. Chodas, L. Bayley, P. Biswas, C. McMenamin, K. Stout, E. Bokhour, H. Bralower, D. Carte, S. Chen, M. Jones, F. Schmidt, M. Smith & G. Sondecker

  2. Harvard College Observatory, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA, USA

    B. Allen, J. Hong & J. E. Grindlay

  3. MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA

    S. Kissel

  4. Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA

    L. F. Lim

  5. Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA

    D. S. Lauretta

  6. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA

    R. P. Binzel

Authors
  1. R. A. Masterson
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  2. M. Chodas
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  3. L. Bayley
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  4. B. Allen
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  5. J. Hong
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  6. P. Biswas
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  7. C. McMenamin
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  8. K. Stout
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  9. E. Bokhour
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  10. H. Bralower
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  11. D. Carte
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  12. S. Chen
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  13. M. Jones
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  14. S. Kissel
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  15. F. Schmidt
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  16. M. Smith
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  17. G. Sondecker
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  18. L. F. Lim
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  19. D. S. Lauretta
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  20. J. E. Grindlay
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  21. R. P. Binzel
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to R. A. Masterson.

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OSIRIS-REx

Edited by Dante Lauretta and Christopher T. Russell

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Masterson, R.A., Chodas, M., Bayley, L. et al. Regolith X-Ray Imaging Spectrometer (REXIS) Aboard the OSIRIS-REx Asteroid Sample Return Mission. Space Sci Rev 214, 48 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11214-018-0483-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11214-018-0483-8

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