Design and construction of the x-ray instrumentation onboard the HaloSat CubeSat

• DOI: 10.1117/1.jatis.6.1.014003
• Publication Date: 2020-03-04T14:02:16Z
• Authors: Daniel M. LaRocca; Philip Kaaret; Donald L. Kirchner; Anna Zajczyk; William Robison; Thomas E. Johnson; Keith M. Jahoda; William Fuelberth; Hannah C. Gulick; Ross McCurdy; Keith White; Drew M. Miles
• Keywords: 0103 physical sciences; 01 natural sciences; 7. Clean energy

HaloSat is the first mission funded by NASA’s Astrophysics Division to use the CubeSat platform. Using three co-aligned silicon drift detectors, the HaloSat observatory measures soft (0.4 to 7 keV) x-ray emission from sources of diffuse emission such as the hot, gaseous halo of the Milky Way. We describe the design and construction of the science payload on HaloSat and the reasoning behind many of the choices. As a direct result of the design choices and adherence to best practices during construction, the HaloSat science payload continues to perform well after more than one year on-orbit.