Micro-channel plate (MCP) detectors have long been a workhorse for space-based x-ray research and are advantageous over other imaging detectors because of their low size, weight and power. The Lunar Environment heliospheric x-ray Imager (LEXI), will utilize a MCP to image Earth’s magnetosphere in soft x-rays from the lunar surface. A critical element for interpreting on-orbit data is to understand the quantum detection efficiency (QDE) of the MCP. LEXI’s MCP is coated with potassium bromide (KBr) to increase the soft x-ray QDE. Historically, few measurements of QDE exist in the soft x-ray band for KBr detectors. This paper reviews the performance of LEXI’s detector, and the QDE experiment procedure conducted at and results from the Advanced Light Source synchrotron soft x-ray beam line (6.3.2) over the energy range 70eV-1300eV. A unique beam line setup was required to limit the photon flux as to not saturate the pores of the MCP or detector signal chain. The experimental results are similar to previous literature, with some caveats unique to this MCP and experimental setup.
The Carruthers Observatory Student Solar Monitor (COSSMo), is a low weight, size, and power instrument on the Carruthers Geocoronal Observatory that measures solar irradiance variability in the Lyman-alpha (122nm) and soft x-ray (0.1-7nm) wavelengths. The presentation will describe the ground-calibration and performance of the instrument. The data will support the Carruthers Geocoronal Observatory, which aims to image and observe the Earth’s exosphere in full; observing how incoming solar irradiance impacts and affects the exosphere allows for a better understanding of its dynamics. NASA’s Carruthers Geocoronal Observatory is scheduled to launch in 2025 and operate from L1.
LEXI is a wide-field X-ray imager using bare-glass slumped micropore optics. The LEXI optic was recently characterized at PANTER to measure both the point spread function and the effective area as a function of energy. The effective area measurements were made with a continuum source in order to characterize the effective area curve at moderate energy resolution over the 0.2-4.0 keV range. Comparison of measurements with ray-tracing suggests a number of ways modeling can be improved in the future.
The lunar environment heliospheric x-ray imager (LEXI) is a wide field-of-view soft x-ray imager built to monitor the shape and motion of Earth’s magnetopause over multiple days. Set to land on the lunar surface as part of NASA’s commercial lunar payload services (CLPS) program, LEXI will measure soft x-rays (0.1-2 keV) produced by the charge exchange between the solar wind and neutral atoms in the near-earth environment. LEXI focuses x-rays in its 9.1° by 9.1° field of view using a tiled 3 by 3 array of “lobster-eye” micropore optics (MPOs). LEXI’s MPOs were first tested individually with a short range x-ray source to characterize the optics and select the best MPOs for flight. Once assembled into a flight array, the MPOs were tested in the PANTER x-ray beamline facility at multiple energies to determine the array’s point spread function and effective area as a function of off-axis angle. We present preliminary calibration results of LEXI’s individual MPO elements and assembled MPO array to qualify the instrument optics for flight.
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