Integral (satellite)

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integral
integral
Type: Space telescope
Operator: European space agencyESA ESA
COSPAR-ID : 2002-048A
Mission dates
Dimensions: 4100 kg
Size: 5 m length, 3.7 m diameter
Begin: October 17, 2002, 04:41 UTC
Starting place: Baikonur 200/39
Launcher: Proton-K / Blok-DM2
Status: in operation
Orbit data
Rotation time : 71h 44min
Orbit inclination : 68.3 °
Apogee height :  159,242 km
Perigee height :  3301 km

Integral ( Inte rnational G amma- R ay A strophysics L aboratory ) is the name of a gamma ray -Observatoriums the European Space Agency (ESA). The satellite consists of two main parts: the service module and the payload module, which houses the four scientific instruments. Astrium supplies the ACS anti-coincidence system, which protects the spectrometer from interference from high-energy protons.

Integral took off on October 17, 2002 on board a Russian Proton K rocket . One of the main tasks of the mission is the exploration of the most formidable objects in the universe that are revealed by gamma rays. These include black holes (synchrotron radiation) or gamma-ray bursts (gamma ray bursts).

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Since the start in October 2002, Integral has been orbiting the earth in an elliptical orbit . This has an equatorial inclination of 68.3 ° and is located at an altitude between 3300 and 159,000 kilometers. This eccentric orbit is necessary to maximize observation time outside the Earth's radiation belt , which could affect measurements.

Missionary tasks

Many objects in the universe emit large amounts of energy from time to time, either in all directions or as jets in small solid angles. These events are caused by supernova explosions, black holes and so-called gamma ray bursts, which are still poorly understood. ESA's space observatory will study all of these events and identify many other sources of radiation.

The successful mission has been extended several times and currently runs until 2022 Template: future / in 2 years, subject to a review in late 2020.

Integral is an international mission in which all member states of the ESA plus the USA, Russia, the Czech Republic and Poland are involved.

Technical specifications

The payload on Integral essentially consists of four instruments:

  1. An imaging sensor ( Imager on Board the Integral Satellite , IBIS) as a gamma telescope generates images in the photon energy range from 15 keV to 10 MeV with a resolution better than 12 arc minutes.
  2. A spectrometer ( SPectrometer on Integral , SPI) determines the energy of the gamma rays very precisely .
  3. An X-ray monitor ( Joint European X-ray monitor JEM-X) to assist in the identification of gamma ray sources.
  4. An optical camera ( Optical Monitoring Camera , OMC) with a CCD sensor to assist in the identification of the gamma ray sources.

Integral detects high-energy radiation between 3 keV and 10 MeV.

The SPI spectrometer allows the hard gamma radiation to be measured with exceptional accuracy. It is much more sensitive to radiation than any comparable instrument before. SPI has 19 detectors made of germanium , which are constantly cooled to −183 ° C. In order to avoid any disturbance of the detectors, the entire instrument is surrounded by a protective layer of bismuth germanate oxide crystals. One negative impact of this tank is its large mass: SPI alone weighs 1.3 tons. For this reason, as well as because of the shielding on the structure, the observatory comes to its large total mass of 4.1 tons before take-off. It is a total of 5 meters long and 3.7 meters in diameter.

The imager IBIS , optimized for imaging, consists of two levels - ISGRI and PICsIT , each of which is equipped with 4096 and 1024 individual detectors, like pixels in a CCD camera. PICsIT , the lower detector, captures hard gamma photons that simply fly through the upper ISGRI level.

The X-ray monitor JEM-X consists of two identical, gas-filled detectors, the principle is similar to that of the German satellite ROSAT .

The optical camera consists of a small telescope with a field of view of around 10 ° and a CCD with 1024 × 1024 pixels. One of the challenges for this camera was to make the glass and CCD sufficiently radiation-resistant .

Carrier of the instruments and their shielding is a structure of CFK - sandwich panels , which also integrates protective shields against the sun radiation.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Chris Peat: INTEGRAL - Orbit. In: Heavens Above. May 9, 2012, accessed May 12, 2012 .
  2. ^ ESA: Extended Life for ESA's Science Missions. November 14, 2018, accessed December 20, 2018 .