Modeling the expected performance of the REgolith X-ray Imaging Spectrometer (REXIS)
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Binzel_Modeling the.pdf
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Author(s)
Inamdar, Niraj K.
Hong, Jaesub
Allen, Branden
Grindlay, Jonathan E.
Masterson, Rebecca A.
Binzel, Richard P
Date Issued
September 2014
Journal
Proceedings of SPIE--the International Society for Optical Engineering
Publisher
SPIE
Citation
Inamdar, Niraj K., Richard P. Binzel, Jae Sub Hong, Branden Allen, Jonathan Grindlay, and Rebecca A. Masterson. “Modeling the Expected Performance of the REgolith X-Ray Imaging Spectrometer (REXIS).” Edited by Pantazis Mouroulis and Thomas S. Pagano. Imaging Spectrometry XIX (September 15, 2014). © 2014 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE)
Version
Final published version
Abstract
OSIRIS-REx is the third spacecraft in the NASA New Frontiers Program and is planned for launch in 2016. OSIRIS-REx will orbit the near-Earth asteroid (101955) Bennu, characterize it, and return a sample of the asteroid’s regolith back to Earth. The Regolith X-ray Imaging Spectrometer (REXIS) is an instrument on OSIRIS-REx designed and built by students at MIT and Harvard. The purpose of REXIS is to collect and image sun-induced fluorescent X-rays emitted by Bennu, thereby providing spectroscopic information related to the elemental makeup of the asteroid regolith and the distribution of features over its surface. Telescopic reflectance spectra suggest a CI or CM chondrite analog meteorite class for Bennu, where this primitive nature strongly motivates its study. A number of factors, however, will influence the generation, measurement, and interpretation of the X-ray spectra measured by REXIS. These include: the compositional nature and heterogeneity of Bennu, the time-variable solar state, X-ray detector characteristics, and geometric parameters for the observations. In this paper, we will explore how these variables influence the precision to which REXIS can measure Bennu’s surface composition. By modeling the aforementioned factors, we place bounds on the expected performance of REXIS and its ability to ultimately place Bennu in an analog meteorite class.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Space Systems Laboratory
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DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2062202
