HEX-P is a probe-class mission concept that will combine high angular resolution (⪅ 5 ′′ at 6 keV) x-ray imaging and broad energy sensitivity (0.2 − 80 keV) to enable revolutionary new insights into black holes, neutron stars, and other extreme environments powering the high energy universe. HEX-P prioritizes broad band imagery and high resolution simultaneously, providing a wealth of information not possible with any other planned or operating observatory. HEX-P achieves its breakthrough performance by combining technologies developed by experienced partners: high resolution low energy imagery with silicon segmented mirrors provided by the Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC, Greenbelt, MD); state of the art high energy imagery from nickel shell mirror technology developed by Media Lario (Bosisio Parini, Italy) and the National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF, Merate, Italy) through a contribution from the Italian Space Agency (ASI, Rome, Italy); high speed, high resolution Depleted P-Channel Field Effect Transistor (DEPFET) detectors through a contribution from the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics (MPE, Garching, Germany); photon counting high energy detectors from the NuSTAR team at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech, Pasadena CA); and a spacecraft and payload structure with a 20 m deployable boom developed by Northrop Grumman (Falls Church, VA).
KEYWORDS: Metrology, Point spread functions, Laser metrology, X-rays, Space operations, Laser systems engineering, Observatories, Mirrors, Design and modelling, Space mirrors
HEX-P is a probe-class mission concept that will combine high angular resolution (⪅15 arcsec) x-ray imaging with broad band spectral coverage (0.2-80 keV) to enable revolutionary new insights into important astrophysical questions identified by the 2020 Decadal Survey. The bandpass is achieved with a 20-meter focal length provided by an extendable boom from Northrop Grumman, Deployables, and a metrology system is required to measure the bench-to-bench deflections and reconstruct the point spread function. We describe the metrology system derived from NuSTAR, which is a laser metrology system monitoring the motion, normal to the optical axis, of the bench carrying the optics relative to the focal plane with a resolution better than 50 micrometers. We also describe the boom and show that the metrology system is well matched to the predicted behavior of the boom and capable of meeting the angular requirement.
We present Hyperion, a mission concept recently proposed to the December 2021 NASA Medium Explorer announcement of opportunity. Hyperion explores the formation and destruction of molecular clouds and planet-forming disks in nearby star-forming regions of the Milky Way. It does this using long-slit high-resolution spectroscopy of emission from fluorescing molecular hydrogen, which is a powerful far-ultraviolet (FUV) diagnostic. Molecular hydrogen (H2) is the most abundant molecule in the universe and a key ingredient for star and planet formation but is typically not observed directly because its symmetric atomic structure and lack of a dipole moment mean there are no spectral lines at visible wavelengths and few in the infrared. Hyperion uses molecular hydrogen’s wealth of FUV emission lines to achieve three science objectives: (1) determining how star formation is related to molecular hydrogen formation and destruction at the boundaries of molecular clouds, (2) determining how quickly and by what process massive star feedback disperses molecular clouds, and (3) determining the mechanism driving the evolution of planet-forming disks around young solar-analog stars. Hyperion conducts this science using a straightforward, highly efficient, single-channel instrument design. Hyperion’s instrument consists of a 48-cm primary mirror with an f/5 focal ratio. The spectrometer has two modes, both covering 138.5- to 161.5-nm bandpasses. A low resolution mode has a spectral resolution of R ≥ 10,000 with a slit length of 65 arcmin, whereas the high-resolution mode has a spectral resolution of R ≥ 50,000 over a slit length of 5 armin. Hyperion occupies a 2-week-long high-earth lunar resonance TESS-like orbit and conducts 2 weeks of planned observations per orbit, with time for downlinks and calibrations. Hyperion was reviewed as category I, which is the highest rating possible but was not selected.
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