Orbital NuSTAR - Manual (Page 2)

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NuSTAR
Mission Partners
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Program management
California Institute of Technology
Principal Investigator: Dr. Fiona Harrison;
mission management
Orbital Sciences Corporation
Spacecraft development, satellite integration and testing,
launch vehicle
Specifications
Spacecraft
Launch Mass: 360 kg
Redundancy: Single String
Solar Arrays: 750 W, Articulated
Stabilization: 3-axis stabilized
Orbit: 600 km, 6 ° inclination
Mission Life: 2 Years
Launch
Launch Vehicle: Pegasus ® XL
Launch Site: Reagan Test Site, Kwajelein Atoll
Date: June 13, 2012 (CONUS)
Instrument
The NuSTAR instrument consists of an array of two co-aligned hard X-ray
telescopes. The mirrors focus onto two shielded solid-state detectors, separated
by a 10 meter mast that was extended from the spacecraft after launch. A laser
metrology system will monitor the mast alignment. The Cadmium Zinc Telluride
(CdZnTe) detectors provide excellent spectral resolution and high efficiency without
requiring cryogenic operation.
Black Holes
Two types of black holes are known to exist. Stellar-mass
black holes form when a very massive star (at least 25
times heavier than our Sun) runs out of nuclear fuel.
The star explodes as a supernova and what remains is a
black hole, usually only a few times heavier than our Sun
since the explosion has blown much of the stellar material
away.
We know less about the birth of supermassive black holes,
which are much heavier than stellar-mass black holes and
live in the centers of galaxies. Using high energy X-rays
to see through the massive clouds that surround them,
NuSTAR will provide a first ever census of supermassive
black holes throughout space and time.
A growing black hole, called a quasar, can be seen at the
center of a faraway galaxy in this artist's concept.
(Photo courtesy NASA/JPL/Caltech)