{"id":14526,"date":"2017-06-19T23:11:30","date_gmt":"2017-06-19T15:11:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/experiment-devoted-to-neutron-star-research-installed-on-space-station\/"},"modified":"2017-06-19T23:11:30","modified_gmt":"2017-06-19T15:11:30","slug":"experiment-devoted-to-neutron-star-research-installed-on-space-station","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/experiment-devoted-to-neutron-star-research-installed-on-space-station\/","title":{"rendered":"Experiment devoted to neutron star research installed on space station"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_25413\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-25413\" style=\"width: 676px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-25413\" src=\"http:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/pulsar.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"676\" height=\"380\" srcset=\"https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/pulsar.jpg 1280w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/pulsar-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/pulsar-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/pulsar-678x381.jpg 678w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/pulsar-30x17.jpg 30w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 676px) 100vw, 676px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-25413\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Artist\u2019s concept of a pulsar (blue-white disk in center) pulling in matter from a nearby star (red disk at upper right). The stellar material forms a disk around the pulsar (multicolored ring) before falling on to the surface at the magnetic poles. The pulsar\u2019s intense magnetic field is represented by faint blue outlines surrounding the pulsar. Credit: NASA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>A NASA instrument built to help astronomers learn about the structure and behavior of neutron stars, super-dense stellar skeletons left behind by massive explosions, has been mounted to an observation post outside the International Space Station after delivery aboard a SpaceX supply ship earlier this month.<\/p>\n<p>Since its arrival inside the trunk of SpaceX\u2019s Dragon cargo capsule, the X-ray astronomy experiment has been transferred from the spacecraft\u2019s unpressurized carrier to a platform on the space-facing side of the space station\u2019s starboard truss backbone, powered up and checked to ensure it can point at stellar targets as the research outpost orbits around Earth.<\/p>\n<p>The Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer, or NICER, is now going through alignment checks and test scans, allowing scientists to fine-tune the instrument. The calibrations should be complete next month, and NICER\u2019s ground team has penciled in July 13 as the first day of the instrument\u2019s 18-month science mission.<\/p>\n<p>NICER\u2019s developers at NASA\u2019s Goddard Space Flight Center crammed 56 individual X-ray mirrors inside the instrument\u2019s shell, with matching silicon detectors that will register individual photons of X-ray light, measuring their energies and times of arrival.<\/p>\n<p>NASA says NICER is the first mission dedicated to neutron star research. Astronomers discovered neutron stars in 1967, decades after scientists first predicted their existence.<\/p>\n<p>Neutron stars are left behind after lower-mass stars exploded in violent supernovas at the ends of their lives. The material from the star ends up crammed into an object the size of a city, and astronomers say one of the densest stable forms of matter in the universe resides in the deep interiors of neutron stars.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_25120\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-25120\" style=\"width: 675px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-25120\" src=\"http:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/image_2_nicer.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"675\" height=\"452\" srcset=\"https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/image_2_nicer.jpg 1041w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/image_2_nicer-300x201.jpg 300w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/image_2_nicer-768x514.jpg 768w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/image_2_nicer-678x454.jpg 678w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/image_2_nicer-30x20.jpg 30w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 675px) 100vw, 675px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-25120\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The NICER instrument. Credit: NASA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Scientists compare the density of a neutron star to packing the mass Mount Everest into a sugar cube. One teaspoon of neutron star matter would weight a billion tons on Earth, according to NASA.<\/p>\n<p>NICER flew to the space station inside the rear trunk of a SpaceX Dragon supply ship, which launched June 3 from NASA\u2019s Kennedy Space Center in Florida and berthed with the orbiting outpost June 5.<\/p>\n<p>The station\u2019s Canadian-built robotic arm extracted the NICER experiment from the Dragon spacecraft June 11, and the instrument rode to its mounting location on an external platform \u2014 EXPRESS Logistics Carrier-2 \u2014 on a mobile rail car down the station\u2019s truss.<\/p>\n<p>Mission controllers in Houston commanded and monitored the multi-day transfer from the ground, with the help of the station\u2019s two-armed Dextre robot.<\/p>\n<p>The space station\u2019s robotic arm installed NICER on its mounting plate June 13, and controllers powered up the instrument\u2019s electronics the next day, verifying all systems were OK. Range of motion tests were completed Friday after engineers needed extra time to release troublesome launch restraint bolts.<\/p>\n<p><iframe id=\"twitter-widget-0\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" allowtransparency=\"true\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" class=\"\" style=\"position: static; visibility: visible; width: 550px; height: 273px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;\" title=\"X Post\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/embed\/Tweet.html?dnt=false&amp;embedId=twitter-widget-0&amp;features=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%3D%3D&amp;frame=false&amp;hideCard=false&amp;hideThread=false&amp;id=875873598208192513&amp;lang=en&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fspaceflightnow.com%2F2017%2F06%2F19%2Fexperiment-devoted-to-neutron-star-research-installed-on-space-station%2F&amp;sessionId=6b9343abfdb24d8a25e59fdfd908c3b7d92ba7b5&amp;theme=light&amp;widgetsVersion=6a3ad42b224df%3A1778106238597&amp;width=550px\" data-tweet-id=\"875873598208192513\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><script async=\"\" src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>NICER rode to the space station with two other experiments in Dragon\u2019s trunk.<\/p>\n<p>One of the payloads, sponsored by the Air Force Research Laboratory, will test a new solar array design could be used on future commercial satellites, making the power generators 20 percent lighter and able to fit into a launch package four times smaller than conventional fold-out solar panels.<\/p>\n<p>A commercial Earth-imaging platform developed by Teledyne Brown was also stowed in Dragon\u2019s trunk. The&nbsp;Multiple User System for Earth Sensing, or MUSES, can host high-definition and hyperspectral cameras for Earth-viewing.<\/p>\n<p>The MUSES payload was robotically moved to its new home on the space station before NICER, and the solar array testbed was unfurled for seven days of testing this week.<\/p>\n<p>The installation of NICER clears the way for nearly a month of calibrations before it can start regular science observations.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNeutron stars are fantastical stars that are extraordinary in many ways,\u201d said Zaven Arzoumanian, NICER\u2019s deputy principal investigator and science lead at Goddard. \u201cThey are the densest objects in the universe, they are the fastest-spinning objects known, they are the most strongly magnetic objects known.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The NICER science team wants to know the structure and composition of neutron stars, which are so extreme that normal atoms are pulverized, freeing subatomic particles like neutrons, protons and electrons.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs soon as you go below the surface of a neutron star, the pressures and densities rise extremely rapidly, and soon you\u2019re in an environment that you can\u2019t produce in any lab on Earth,\u201d said Slavko Bogdanov, a research scientist at Columbia University who leads the NICER light curve modeling group.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_25414\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-25414\" style=\"width: 675px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-25414\" src=\"http:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/35310175386_c99de54db1_b.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"675\" height=\"495\" srcset=\"https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/35310175386_c99de54db1_b.jpg 720w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/35310175386_c99de54db1_b-300x220.jpg 300w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/35310175386_c99de54db1_b-678x497.jpg 678w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/35310175386_c99de54db1_b-30x22.jpg 30w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/35310175386_c99de54db1_b-80x60.jpg 80w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 675px) 100vw, 675px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-25414\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A view of the space station\u2019s Canadian-Built robotic arm removing NICER instrument from its berth inside SpaceX\u2019s Dragon capsule last week. Credit: NASA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Unlike black holes, which develop from explosions of stars more than 20 times the mass of the sun, neutron stars can be directly observed.<\/p>\n<p>A partnership between NASA, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Naval Research Laboratory, NICER should give scientists their first measurements of the size of a neutron star.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey emit light all across the spectrum, from radio waves to visible light up to X-rays and gamma rays, primarily in narrow beams from their magnetic poles,\u201d Arzoumanian said. \u201cJust like the Earth, the magnetic poles on a neutron star are not necessarily aligned with the spin of the star, so you can get narrow beams that sweep as the star spins, just like a lighthouse.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd if we happen to be in the path of the sweep we see a flash everytime one of these beams go by and the stars from a distance appear to be pulsing, so they\u2019re called pulsars,\u201d Arzoumanian said.<\/p>\n<p>Scientists will also demonstrate the potential of using the timing of pulses from neutron stars for deep space navigation.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re going to look at a subset of pulsars in the sky called millisecond pulsars,\u201d said Keith Gendreau, NICER\u2019s principal investigator at Goddard. \u201cIn some of these millisecond pulsars, the pulses that we see are so regular that they remind us of atomic clocks.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Atomic clocks are the basis of the Global Positioning System satellites, according to Gendreau.<\/p>\n<p>NASA calls the navigation demonstration the Station Explorer for X-ray Timing and Navigation Technology, or SEXTANT.<\/p>\n<p>Jason Mitchell, SEXTANT\u2019s project manager at Goddard, said his team aims to use predictable pulsar signals to locate the space station with a precision of 6 miles, or 10 kilometers, without the aid of GPS satellites or on-board navigation solutions.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s a small step compared to GPS, but it\u2019s a giant step for using only pulsar measurements, and that will help us get into deep space,\u201d Mitchell said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur goal is to turn the G in GPS into galactic, and make it a Galactic Positioning System,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p><b><i>Email the author.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Follow Stephen Clark on Twitter: @StephenClark1.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Artist\u2019s concept of a pulsar (blue-white disk in center) pulling in matter from a nearby star (red disk at upper right). The stellar material forms a disk around the pulsar (multicolored ring) before falling on to the surface at the magnetic poles. The pulsar\u2019s intense magnetic field is represented by faint blue outlines surrounding the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1690,1395,1790,717,1602,1766,1862,2653],"class_list":["post-14526","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-astrophysics","tag-dragon","tag-goddard-space-flight-center","tag-international-space-station","tag-iss-cargo","tag-mit","tag-naval-research-laboratory","tag-nicer"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14526"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14526"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14526\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14526"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14526"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14526"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}