NuStar

 2012-031A

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NuStar would be the first mission to fly a focussing telescope in space for energies in the 8-80 keV range. It will survey this energy band for X-ray emission from quasars and Galactic black hole binaries, and obtain spectra of hard X-ray emission from supernova remnants and study the spectral lines created by nuclear transitions which dominate this spectral range. The mission is led by Fiona Harrison (Caltech).

Hex Cylinder + boom 1.1m dia 1.5m high 3.9m across bus+1 panel (6.8m across bus + 2 panels) and 11.1m with mast deployed. Optics outer dia 0.38m.

The NuSTAR Small Explorer mission has been reinstated and is now scheduled for launch in 2011. NuSTAR, led by Caltech's Fiona Harrison, was cancelled last year due to budget problems, but NASA science mission directorate leader Alan Stern has squeezed out enough money to allow the restart, alleviating a drought in future high energy astrophysics launches. NuSTAR, the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array, carries three identical hard X-ray (6-80 keV) telescopes, which will be the first in orbit giving focussed images of the sky at energies above 10 keV (wavelengths below 1.2 Angstroms). The angular resolution will be as little as 40 arcseconds, compared to 20 arcminutes for previous hard X-ray missions. The telescopes, each containing 150 nested paraboloid mirror shells, will extend from the small 1-meter-sized satellite on a 10-meter mast to provide a long focal length, and lasers will be used to monitor flexing of the mast due to temperature variations so that the focus can be corrected. The satellite will be sent up by an air-launched Pegasus rocket from the equatorial Kwajalein atoll to a low Earth orbit with a small inclination to the equator - this avoids problems with the high particle background experienced by polar orbiting spacecraft. After launch, NuSTAR will be checked out by observing the Crab Nebula and the Hercules X-1 binary system before moving on to make a census of active galactic nuclei in the Bootes and GOODS deep survey fields, well observed at other wavelengths, as well as studying the Galactic Center and mapping supernova remnants to study the production of the chemical elements.

Launch point 6.75N 167.7E (W Clavin/JPL, email)

Date	Time	Event	Orbit
2012 Jun 13	1500	L-1011 T/O	KMR
	1600:37	Drop at 6.743 167.70
	1600:42	T+0:05 Stage 1 burn
		T+1:14? Stage 1 burnout
		T+1:32 Stage 1 sep
		T+1:32 Stage 2 burn 70s
		T+2:08 Fairing sep
		T+2:45 Stage 2 burnout
		Coast
		T+9:25 Stage 2 sep
		T+9:33 Stage 3 burn 70s
	1610	T+10:42? Stage 3 burnout
	1613	T+13:41 Stage 3 sep
2012 Jun 21	1743	Mast deploy
	1809	Mast deploy complete
2012 Jul 1			97.18 613 x 633 x 6.02

Payload:

• Telescope mast, 10m

• X-ray optics modules 1 and 2, 0.38m outer dia

• X-ray imagers, 2, each CdZnTe 4 x 32 x 32 pixels