KEYWORDS: Calibration, Space operations, Satellites, Data processing, Data archive systems, Open source software, Data centers, Data analysis, Astronomy, Gamma ray astronomy
HERMES Pathfinder is a constellation of six 3U nano-satellites mainly funded by the Italian Space Agency (ASI) and also by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Program. The nano-satellites host simple but innovative x-ray detectors to monitor cosmic high energy transients such as Gamma Ray Bursts (GRB). A seventh HERMES detector is aboard the Australian mission SpIRIT (Space Industry Responsive Intelligent Thermal), launched in December 2023. HERMES Science Operation Center (SOC) is hosted by the ASI Space Science Data Center (SSDC), which is a multi-mission science operation, data processing and data archiving center. The SOC is responsible for archiving, generating, validating, and distributing scientific and ancillary data, for quick-look analysis, mission planning, GRB trigger alerts, calibration data and data-analysis software. SSDC has developed specific pipelines to automatically perform each of the tasks under the responsibility of the SOC and the HERMESDAS (HERMES Data Analysis Software) software package to generate calibrated and cleaned scientific data from raw telemetry data. HERMESDAS is designed as a collection of software modules each dedicated to a single function. HERMEDAS makes use of open-source software, is designed for portability on most UNIX platforms, and adheres to NASA OGIP standards. HERMES science data archive will be accessible at www.asi.ssdc.it.
We describe the science case, design and expected performances of the X/Gamma-ray Imaging Spectrometer (XGIS), a GRB and transients monitor developed and studied for the THESEUS mission project, capable of covering an exceptionally wide energy band (2 keV – 10 MeV), with imaging capabilities and location accuracy <15 arcmin up to 150 keV over a Field of View of 2sr, a few hundreds eV energy resolution in the X-ray band (<30 keV) and few micro seconds time resolution over the whole energy band. Thanks to a design based on a modular approach, the XGIS can be easily re-scaled and adapted for fitting the available resources and specific scientific objectives of future high-energy astrophysics missions, and especially those aimed at fully exploiting GRBs and high-energy transients for multi-messenger astrophysics and fundamental physics.
HERMES (high energy rapid modular ensemble of satellites) is a space-borne mission based on a constellation of nano-satellites flying in a low-Earth orbit (LEO). The six 3U CubeSat buses host new miniaturized instruments hosting a hybrid silicon drift detector/GAGG:Ce scintillator photodetector system sensitive to x-rays and gamma-rays. HERMES will probe the temporal emission of bright high-energy transients such as gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), ensuring a fast transient localization (with arcmin-level accuracy) in a field of view of several steradians exploiting the triangulation technique. With a foreseen launch date in late 2023, HERMES transient monitoring represents a keystone capability to complement the next generation of gravitational wave experiments. Moreover, the HERMES constellation will operate in conjunction with the space industry responsive intelligent thermal (SpIRIT) 6U CubeSat, to be launched in early 2023. SpIRIT is an Australian-Italian mission for high-energy astrophysics that will carry in a sun-synchronous orbit (SSO) an actively cooled HERMES detector system payload. On behalf of the HERMES collaboration, in this paper we will illustrate the HERMES and SpIRIT payload design, integration and tests, highlighting the technical solutions adopted to allow a wide-energy-band and sensitive x-ray and gamma-ray detector to be accommodated in a 1U CubeSat volume.
HERMES (high energy rapid modular ensemble of satellites) is a space-borne mission based on a constellation of six 3U CubeSats flying in a low-Earth orbit, hosting new miniaturized instruments based on a hybrid silicon drift detector/GAGG:Ce scintillator photodetector system sensitive to x-rays and γ-rays. Moreover, the HERMES constellation will operate in conjunction with the Australian-Italian space industry responsive intelligent thermal (SpIRIT) 6U CubeSat, that will carry in a sun-synchronous orbit (SSO) an actively cooled HERMES detector system payload. In this paper we provide an overview of the ground calibrations of the first HERMES and SpIRIT flight detectors, outlining the calibration plan, detector performance and characterization.
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