Bulletin of the American Physical Society
APS April Meeting 2018
Volume 63, Number 4
Saturday–Tuesday, April 14–17, 2018; Columbus, Ohio
Session C15: Missions and Instruments |
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Sponsoring Units: DAP Chair: Tyce DeYoung, Michigan State University Room: B230-231 |
Saturday, April 14, 2018 1:30PM - 1:42PM |
C15.00001: Camera Development for a Next-Generation TeV Gamma-Ray Telescope Colin Adams, Rachel Fedora, Brendan Krull, Thomas Meures, Leslie Taylor, Justin Vandenbroucke, Megan Wachtendonk The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) is a next-generation ground-based observatory to study very-high-energy gamma rays. US and international collaborators are developing a novel two-mirror telescope, denoted the prototype Schwarzschild-Couder Telescope (pSCT). The pSCT will provide a wider field of view, better angular resolution, and better background rejection than conventional single-mirror telescopes. In addition to its dual-mirror optics, the pSCT features a high-resolution, compact camera based on silicon photomultipliers and waveform-sampling application specific integrated circuits. Scheduled for commissioning in 2018, the pSCT will function alongside the VERITAS array in Arizona. This presentation describes the current status of camera integration, testing, and calibration, and discusses the outlook for on-site camera operation. [Preview Abstract] |
Saturday, April 14, 2018 1:42PM - 1:54PM |
C15.00002: BurstCube: A CubeSat for Gravitational Wave Counterparts Judith Racusin We present BurstCube, a novel CubeSat concept in development that is approved and will fly in \textasciitilde 2022. BurstCube will detect, localize, and characterize gamma-ray transients, including long and short duration gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), solar flares, and other Galactic sources in outburst in the 10-1000 keV band. Short duration GRBs are of particular interest because at least some of them are counterparts to gravitational wave (GW) sources detectable by LIGO/Virgo. BurstCube contains 4 CsI scintillators coupled with arrays of compact low-power Silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs) on a 6U Dellingr bus, a flagship modular platform that is easily modifiable for a variety of 6U CubeSat architectures. BurstCube will complement existing facilities such as Swift and Fermi in the short term, and provide a means for GRB detection, localization, and characterization in the interim time before the next generation future gamma-ray mission flies, as well as space-qualify SiPMs and test technologies for future use on larger gamma-ray missions. The ultimate configuration of BurstCube is to have a set of \textasciitilde 10 BurstCubes to provide all-sky coverage to GRBs for substantially lower cost than a full-scale mission. [Preview Abstract] |
Saturday, April 14, 2018 1:54PM - 2:06PM |
C15.00003: POEMMA: Probe Of Multi-Messenger Astrophysics John Krizmanic Selected as a NASA Astrophysics Probe mission concept study in 2017, the Probe Of Multi-Messenger Astrophysics (POEMMA) mission science goals are to identify the sources of ultra-high energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) and to discover cosmic neutrinos above 10 PeV. POEMMA will consist of two satellites, flying in loose formation, each with a wide field-of-view UV telescope, using an innovative Schmidt camera, optimized to observe air fluorescence and air Cherenkov signals from UHECRs and neutrinos. POEMMA's goal is to obtain orders of magnitude higher sensitivity to the highest energy cosmic messengers compared to what been achieved so far by ground-based experiments. POEMMA will measure the spectrum, composition, and sky distribution of the UHECRs above 10 EeV to identify the most energetic cosmic accelerators in the universe and study the acceleration mechanism(s). POEMMA will also measure the Cherenkov signals from upward-moving air showers induced from tau neutrino interactions in the Earth. In this talk, the science goals, instrument design, launch and mission profile, and simulated UHECR and neutrino measurement capabilities for POEMMA will be presented. [Preview Abstract] |
Saturday, April 14, 2018 2:06PM - 2:18PM |
C15.00004: The EUSO-SPB2 Mission Lawrence Wiencke, Angela Olinto The Extreme Universe Space Observatory Super Pressure Balloon mission Two(EUSO-SPB2) is in preparation. A science payload of three optical cosmic ray telescopes telescopes are planned for this long duration mission. One will measure high energy cosmic rays via fluorescence and two will measure direct Cherenkov light from lower energy cosmic rays and optical backgrounds for cosmogenic tau neutrino signatures. The planned launch date is 2021. This balloon mission will also test techniques and methods for the Probe of Extreme Multi Messenger Astronomy (POEMMA) space mission currently under a NASA sponsored conceptual design. [Preview Abstract] |
Saturday, April 14, 2018 2:18PM - 2:30PM |
C15.00005: EUSO-SPB1: An overview Johannes Eser The Extreme Universe Space Observatory on a Super Pressure Balloon (EUSO- SPB1) is the latest and most advance effort of the Extreme Universe Space Observatory onboard the Japanese Experiment Module (JEM-EUSO) collaboration in preparation to measure extreme energetic cosmic rays from space. It was launched as a mission of opportunity on April 24th 23:51 UTC 2017 from Wanaka, New Zealand on a NASA super pressure balloon test flight with a planned flight time of up to 100days circling the southern hemisphere. The design of EUSO-SPB1 was driven by the idea to measure for the first time cosmic rays via fluorescence light looking down onto the atmosphere from the near space altitude of 33 km. The flight had to be terminated prematurely after 12days and 4 hours over the Pacific ocean, around 300 km SE of Easter Island. We will present an overview of the goals, the instrument and the flight of the EUSO-SPB1 experiment. We will finish with a preliminary summary of the obtained data. Preparations for a EUSO-SPB2 mission are underway. [Preview Abstract] |
Saturday, April 14, 2018 2:30PM - 2:42PM |
C15.00006: Motivated by LISA: Current Progress on the Development Of Space-flight Qualified Optical Hardware Daniel Hillsberry, Andrew Chilton, Guido Mueller, John Conklin The Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) requires extremely precise and stable optical hardware to achieve a sufficient SNR. The effort to redesign and modularize the LISA optical bench for reduced cost and complexity has led to some interesting and novel hardware concepts. This talk is about the ongoing development and testing of a modular and integrable optics system built from conventional engineering materials while meeting LISA like stability levels. This system is designed for applications such as interferometry, metrology, communication and will include: monolithic piezo actuated steerable optic mounts, optical bench, and a metal-to-glass structural interface. A compact and low-cost shaker table for space-flight qualification tests has also been in development. This hardware could bring preliminary flight testing in-house to save time and money compared to off sight evaluation. The shaker table will give other institutions the opportunity to enjoy more cost effective and partially in-house flight qualification. Motivated by space science metrology needs the optical system is designed to be compact, low cost, and highly configurable which makes it relevant to a diverse range of applications beyond LISA which may require such scientific instrumentation. [Preview Abstract] |
Saturday, April 14, 2018 2:42PM - 2:54PM |
C15.00007: Systems Overview of the Micro-X Sounding Rocket Antonia Hubbard The Micro-X High Resolution Microcalorimeter X-Ray Imaging Rocket is a sounding rocket mission that will observe Supernova Remnants and search for keV-scale sterile neutrino dark matter. Micro-X will combine the excellent energy resolution of Transition Edge Sensor microcalorimeters with the imaging capabilities of a conical imaging mirror to map extended and point X-ray sources with an unprecedented combination of energy and spatial resolution. The payload has been designed to operate in the challenging conditions of a sounding rocket flight and to achieve sensitive results, in a single five-minute exposure, for each of these science goals. The first flight of the payload will be in July 2018. We present the design and status of the payload with special emphasis on the particular engineering challenges of flying such detectors on a sounding rocket. [Preview Abstract] |
Saturday, April 14, 2018 2:54PM - 3:06PM |
C15.00008: Non-Gravitational Wave Physics and Astrophysics from NANOGrav Scott Ransom The NANOGrav collaboration just released its 11 year timing data set as part of its efforts to detect nHz gravitational waves with a pulsar timing array. While the new stochastic background limits are constraining the astrophysics of supermassive black hole growth and galaxy mergers, there is an incredible amount of ancillary science that we get from the high-precision timing of scores of millisecond pulsars. In this talk I'll describe some of this science, such as unique constraints on the interstellar medium, new neutron star masses, better statistics on the velocity distribution of recycled pulsars, and tests of alternative theories of gravity. [Preview Abstract] |
Saturday, April 14, 2018 3:06PM - 3:18PM |
C15.00009: Satellite Deep Space Launch Facility London Dunham This improved magnetic space transportation system comprises solely of a permanent magnet assemblage. Observation of the permanent magnet assemblage in column formation reveals polarity ability to form magnetic sheets emanating isolated polarity to repel and attract along selective vectors enabling friction to a frictionless environment. The magnet assemblage in row formation enable loads initial momentum and continuance propulsion, and braking. This satellite deployment system does not require any power from off the grid nor does it need any power source onboard the deploying load because, its system is solely based on permanent magnet isolated polarity magnetic fields. [Preview Abstract] |
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