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Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array
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Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array

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Also known as NuSTAR, Explorer 93, SMEX-11, NUStar

NuSTAR (Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array, also named Explorer 93 and SMEX-11) is a NASA space-based X-ray telescope that uses a conical approximation to a Wolter telescope to focus high energy X-rays from astrophysical sources, especially for nuclear spectroscopy, and operates in the range of 3 to 79 keV.

Key facts

Spaceflight.name
NuSTAR
Spaceflight.names_list
Explorer 93Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope ArraySMEX-11
Spaceflight.image
NuSTAR spacecraft model.png
Spaceflight.image_caption
NuSTAR (Explorer 93) satellite
Spaceflight.image_size
300px
Spaceflight.mission_type
X-ray astronomy
Spaceflight.operator
NASAJPL
Spaceflight.COSPAR_ID
2012-031A
Spaceflight.SATCAT
38358
Spaceflight.mission_duration
2 years (planned) (in progress)
Spaceflight.spacecraft
Explorer XCIII
Spaceflight.spacecraft_type
Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array
Spaceflight.spacecraft_bus
LEOStar-2
Spaceflight.manufacturer
Orbital ATK (formerly Orbital Sciences Corporation and ATK Space Components)
Spaceflight.power
750 watts
Spaceflight.launch_date
13 June 2012, 16:00:37 UTC
Spaceflight.launch_rocket
Pegasus XL (F41)
Spaceflight.launch_site
Kwajalein Atoll, Stargazer

via Wikipedia infobox

~13 min read

Encyclopedic overview

14 sections
Contents
  • History
  • Launch
  • Optics
  • Detectors
  • Major scientific results
  • Spin measurement of a supermassive black hole
  • Tracing radioactivity in a supernova remnant
  • Nearby supermassive black holes
  • Measurement of temperature variations of AGN wind
  • Detection of light reflecting behind a black hole
  • Ultra-luminous neutron star violating the Eddington limit
  • See also
  • References
  • External links

NuSTAR (Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array, also named Explorer 93 and SMEX-11) is a NASA space-based X-ray telescope that uses a conical approximation to a Wolter telescope to focus high energy X-rays from astrophysical sources, especially for nuclear spectroscopy, and operates in the range of 3 to 79 keV.

NuSTAR is the eleventh mission of NASA's Small Explorer (SMEX-11) satellite program and the first space-based direct-imaging X-ray telescope at energies beyond those of the Chandra X-ray Observatory and XMM-Newton. It was successfully launched on 13 June 2012, having previously been delayed from 21 March 2012 due to software issues with the launch vehicle.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

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