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The Chandrayaan-1 X-ray Spectrometer: C1XS

 

CAD image of the C1XS instrument. IMAGE: ISRO

Latest News:

The Chandrayaan-1 mission was launched in October 2008 and was terminated in late August 2009 due to a major failure on the spacecraft. Despite C1XS being hampered by an incredibly quiet Sun, C1XS was able to build on the initial work of D-CIXS. In addition to detecting Ca in many flares, C1XS also confirmed that Ti could be detected on the Moon with very weak C1 class flares and C1XS even detected iron with a modest C3 class flare (solar scientist established a scale for solar X-ray emission many years ago. The scale is A, B, C, M, and X. A to B is a factor of 10 increase in X-ray brightness of the Sun, and x10 to get to C and x10 again to get to M [“medium”] and another x10 to reach X [“extraordinary”]. So, A -> X is a factor of 10,000 increase in X-ray brightness! C3 is just x3 brighter than C1). Before C1XS flew it was believed that M5 flares (and above) would be needed to be capable of detecting iron on the lunar surface. These types of flares are significantly rarer than C3 flares. Therefore, the ability to detect iron with such weak solar flares means that instruments like C1XS could map iron over a much greater fraction of the Moon than previously thought. C1XS was also able to add the volatile elements sodium and potassium to the list of elements detected by X-ray instruments on the lunar surface. Read more

News: Follow this link for First C1XS detection of lunar X-rays
Instrument

C1XS is a Compact Imaging X-ray Spectrometer selected for part of the payload for the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chandrayaan-1 mission to the Moon. It is a sophisticated miniaturisation of an X-ray Spectrometer that employs radical new technology to greatly reduce the mass and volume of the instrument.

The C1XS X-ray spectrometer is currently being constructed at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, UK, in collaboration with colleagues at ISRO. The instrument is a technology development of the D-C1XS instrument which successfully conducted science operations at the Moon aboard ESA's SMART-1 mission between 2003 to 2006. The technology centers around a purpose-designed matrix of Swept Charge Device (SCD) X-ray sensors that are mounted behind low profile gold/copper collimators and aluminium thin film filters. The system has the virtue of providing superior X-ray detection, spectroscopic and spatial measurement capabilities

Full Moon Inage:  http://science.nasa.gov/images/bluemoon_fred.jpg

Science

C1XS will provide high resolution coverage of the lunar surface in X-rays, and will providing an absolute measurements of the elemental abundances of the rock forming elements Mg, Al and Si under normal solar conditions and several other elements during solar flare events.

Geochemical data will allow for advances in several areas of lunar science, including a detailed study of the nature of the crust. In combination with information to be obtained by the other instruments on Chandrayaan-1 and the data already provided by the Smart-1, Clementine and Lunar Prospector missions, this information will provide a more detailed look at some of the fundamental questions that remain regarding the origin and evolution of the Moon.

Timeline

Mission Timeline

A description of C1XS and Chandrayaan-1's progress so far.

****Chandrayaan-1 launches in October 2008! See the launch special page here.****

 

Investigators and Contacts

A list of C1XS investigators and associates

The Chandrayaan-1 Spacecraft

Press images and contact information

 

  C1XS Project Team Pages

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