Orbital Sciences Corporation [NYSE: ORB] shared great news today that it has been selected by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to design, manufacture, integrate and test a new low-Earth orbit (LEO) space science satellite that will study X-ray polarization in space.
The Gravity and Extreme Magnetism SMEX mission will detect and measure the
polarization of the X-rays emitted by a neutron star. Courtesy of NASA
Under the $40 million contract, Orbital will provide the spacecraft bus and conduct mission operations for the Goddard Space Flight Center's (GSFC) Gravity and Extreme Magnetism (GEMS) mission.
The GEMS contract was awarded to Orbital under the space agency's Small
Explorer (SMEX) series of cost efficient and highly productive space
science satellites. Orbital has built several other SMEX satellites for
NASA, including the in-orbit GALEX, AIM and IBEX spacecraft, and is
currently developing the NuSTAR spacecraft that is scheduled for launch in
2011. The GEMS mission is being led by the project's Principal
Investigator Dr. Jean Swank and is being managed by GSFC. It is currently scheduled to launch no later than 2015.
"Orbital is very pleased to be able to continue our support for NASA's SMEX
program with our selection by the Goddard Space Flight Center to build and
operate the GEMS satellite," said Mr. Mike Miller, Orbital's Senior Vice
President for Science and Technology satellite programs. "With our proven
capabilities to build and deploy very reliable satellites to support the
nation's space science research, we are looking forward to working with Dr.
Swank and her team on another important mission."
The GEMS satellite will be the first observatory to systematically measure
X-ray polarization which encodes information about the structure of cosmic
sources, unlocking a previously hidden astrophysical world. Previous
space-based X-ray observatories have been insensitive to polarization,
which refers to the direction of the electric field of electromagnetic
waves. Polarization measurements will allow scientists to study scattering,
magnetic fields and strong gravitational fields.
"The collaboration among the GEMS participants during the study phase
resulted in a strong team that was selected by NASA from among several
other proposed missions to go forward with its important scientific
research," said Dr. Swank. "Over the next several years, we look forward to
completing the satellite and flying a mission that will add important and
useful new information to the study of astrophysics."
The purpose of the GEMS mission is to help scientists answer fundamental
questions about the universe, such as: Where is energy released near black
holes? What is the origin of X-ray emissions from pulsars? What is the
magnetic field structure in high energy nebulae? The GEMS team will make
the data from the mission readily accessible to the astrophysics community
and the general public on NASA's High Energy Astrophysics Science Archive
Research Center website at this direct link.
The GEMS satellite will be based on Orbital's proven LEOStar-2 TM
spacecraft bus design. GEMS will be the eighth satellite to be based on
the LEOStar-2 platform. Other LEOStar-based satellites that Orbital has
built or currently has in development for NASA include the four SMEX
satellites mentioned above, plus the Dawn interplanetary spacecraft that
was launched in 2007 and the SORCE Earth science satellite that is
currently in its seventh year of operation.
In addition to its program management role, NASA's GSFC will provide the
X-ray polarimeter instrument and oversee the Science Operations Center,
science data processing, systems engineering and education and public
outreach. Other program partners include NASA's Ames Research Center, the
University of Iowa and ATK, Inc.