Payload 03 Information

Abstract:
The work described in this proposal is motivated by the idea of using celestial X-ray sources such as pulsars as beacons for deep space navigation. The development of a compact X-ray detector system is an enabler of this concept. The engineering objective of the experiment being proposed is to upgrade the compact X-ray detector and its associated hardware that flew on the 2012 HASP mission and was improved for the 2013 HASP mission (though it did not fly due to a launch mishap). The primary upgrade for the 2014 payload is the addition of a second scintillation detector to allow for the detection of coincident photons in a narrow field of view. The energies of the photon events will also be recorded by the payload. The scientific objectives of the experiment are to separate individual cosmic ray events into different energy bands, and to examine periods of higher photon flux in these bands along the flight trajectory for possible celestial body identification during flight. Another scientific goal is to characterize the cosmic ray background, and thus the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) as seen by such small detectors in these separate energy bands. The educational objective is to provide students with a hands-on experience in designing and testing of avionics systems. The 2014 HAXDT will be designed to conform to a 3-U CubeSat infrastructure with a 3000 cm3 internal payload volume and will weigh less than 3 kg. Current interface requirements include less than 15 watts of power, and 440 bps of downlink bandwidth.