NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration

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Experiment/Payload Overview

Information provided courtesy of the Japan Aerospace and Exploration Agency (JAXA).
Brief Summary

Monitor of All-sky X-ray Image (MAXI) is a highly sensitive X-ray slit camera for the monitoring of more than 1000 X-ray sources in space over an energy band range of 0.5 to 30 keV.

Principal Investigator

Masaru Matsuoka, Ph.D., Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS), ISS Science Project Office, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, Tsukuba, , Japan

Co-Investigator(s)/Collaborator(s)

Atsumasa Yoshida, Ph.D., Aoyama Gakuin University, Sagamihara, Kanagawa, Japan

Hiroshi Tsunemi, Ph.D., Osaka University, Osaka, , Japan

Kazuo Makishima, Ph.D., RIKEN Institute , Wako-shi, Saitama, Japan

Nobuyuki Kawai, Ph.D., Tokyo Institute of Technology, Tokyo, , Japan

Payload Developer

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, Tsukuba, , Japan

Sponsoring Space Agency

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)

Sponsoring Organization:

Information Pending

ISS Expedition Duration:

March 2009 - October 2013

Expeditions Assigned

19/20, 21/22, 23/24, 25/26, 27/28, 29/30, 31/32, 33/34, 35/36

Previous ISS Missions

MAXI GSC detector is an advanced version of the gas counter developed by RIKEN mounted on NASA's High-Energy Transient Explorer (HETE) satellite. HETE was launched in October, 2000.

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Experiment/Payload Description

Research Summary

• Monitor of All-sky X-ray Image (MAXI) is an externally mounted experiment to be attached on the Japanese Experiment Module (JEM), Kibo, Exposed Facility.



• MAXI consists of highly sensitive X-ray slit cameras for the monitoring of more than 1000 X-ray sources in space over an energy band range of 0.5 to 30 keV. MAXI monitors the X-ray variability once every 96 minutes for more than 1,000 X-ray sources covering the entire sky on time scales from a day to a few months.



• As an all-sky monitor, MAXI employs slit cameras, Gas Slit Camera (GSC) and Solid-state Slit Camera (SSC). The GSC uses a gas proportional counter for ix-ray detector, and SSC uses peltier-cooled CCDs for x-ray detector. MAXI mounts 12 GSCs and 2 SSCs.



• They determine one direction of X-ray sources within the narrow field of view of the slit that is orthogonally oriented to a one-dimensional position-sensitive X-ray detector.

Description

MAXI monitors the X-ray variability once every 96 minutes for more than 1,000 X-ray sources covering the entire sky on time scales from a day to a few months. As an all-sky monitor, MAXI employs slit cameras. They determine one direction of X-ray sources within the narrow field of view of the slit that is orthogonally oriented to a one-dimensional position-sensitive X-ray detector. As an X-ray source moves according to the motion of the International Space Station, another position of the X-ray source is determined when the sources are captured by the collimated field of view of the camera. The International Space Station orbits around the Earth every 96 minutes. During this time, Maxi's two semicircular (arc-shaped) fields of view will scan the whole sky once.

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Applications

Space Applications

Information Pending

Earth Applications

The discovery of X-ray novae and gamma-ray bursts with MAXI will be promptly disseminated all over the world through the Internet so that the astronomical observatories will conduct follow-up and detail observation by telescope as well as astronomical satellites.

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Operations

Operational Requirements

Information Pending

Operational Protocols

Information Pending

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Results/More Information

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Related Web Sites

The information on this web page was duplicated from information provided by JAXA. Please visit the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Kibo Experiments to learn more about this payload and others.

The MAXI Experiment

MAXI (Japanese)

MAXI (RIKEN)

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Publications

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Ground Based Results Publications

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ISS Patent Publications

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Related Publications

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Images

Pictured above is the Monitor of All-sky X-ray Image (MAXI) that is mounted externally on the Japanese Experiment Module (JEM) onboard the ISS. (Image provided by JAXA.)

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The "First Light" all-sky X-ray image obtained with the Gas Slit Camera (GSC) of MAXI over one ISS orbit. Image courtesy of Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).

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NASA Image: S127E009561 - View of MAXI attached to the Japanese Experiment Module - Exposed Facility (JEF). Photo was taken during STS-127 / Expedition 20 Joint Operations.

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