Station Explorer for X-ray Timing and Navigation Technology Architecture Overview

Jason W. Mitchell, Munther A. Hassouneh, Luke M. Winternitz, Jennifer E. Valdez, Paul S. Ray, Zaven Arzoumanian, and Keith C. Gendreau

Abstract:	The Station Explorer for X-ray Timing and Navigation Technology (SEXTANT) is a technology demonstration enhancement to the Neutron-star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) mission. NICER is a National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) astrophysics Explorer Mission of Opportunity, scheduled for launch in mid-2016, that will be hosted on the International Space Station (ISS) via the ExPRESS Logistics Carrier (ELC). By exploiting the regular pulsations emitted by the ultra dense remnants of dead stars, which rotate many hundreds of times per second, SEXTANT will, for the first-time, demonstrate real-time, on-board X-ray pulsar-based navigation—a significant milestone in the quest to establish a Global Positioning System (GPS)-like navigation capability available throughout our Solar System and beyond—and include the world’s first completely functional system architecture for navigation using X-ray pulsars. In addition, NICER/SEXTANT will investigate the suitability of these millisecond X-ray pulsars (MSPs) as a Solar System-wide timing infrastructure to rival terrestrial atomic clocks on long timescales. This paper provides a brief overview of the SEXTANT demonstration and the design of the system architecture that consists of the NICER X-ray timing instrument, the SEXTANT flight software and algorithms, supporting ground system, and the GSFC X-ray Navigation Laboratory Testbed (GXLT).
Published in:	Proceedings of the 27th International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GNSS+ 2014) September 8 - 12, 2014 Tampa Convention Center Tampa, Florida
Pages:	3194 - 3200
Cite this article:	Mitchell, Jason W., Hassouneh, Munther A., Winternitz, Luke M., Valdez, Jennifer E., Ray, Paul S., Arzoumanian, Zaven, Gendreau, Keith C., "Station Explorer for X-ray Timing and Navigation Technology Architecture Overview," Proceedings of the 27th International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GNSS+ 2014), Tampa, Florida, September 2014, pp. 3194-3200.
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