Pre-flight integration and characterization of the SPIDER balloon-borne telescope

A. S. Rahlin; P. A. R. Ade; M. Amiri; S. J. Benton; J. J. Bock; J. R. Bond; S. A. Bryan; Hsin C. Chiang; C. R. Contaldi; B. P. Crill; O. Doré; M. Farhang; J. P. Filippini; L. M. Fissel; A. A. Fraisse; A. E. Gambrel; N. N. Gandilo; S. Golwala; Jon E. Gudmundsson; M. Halpern; M. F. Hasselfield; G. Hilton; W. A. Holmes; V. V. Hristov; K. D. Irwin; William C. Jones; Zigmund D. Kermish; C. L. Kuo; C. J. MacTavish; P. V. Mason; K. Megerian; L. Moncelsi; T. A. Morford; J. M. Nagy; C. B. Netterfield; R. O'Brient; C. Reintsema; J. E. Ruhl; M. C. Runyan; J. A. Shariff; J. D. Soler; A. Trangsrud; C. Tucker; R. S. Tucker; A. D. Turner; A. C. Weber; D. V. Wiebe; E. Y. Young

doi:10.1117/12.2055683

23 July 2014 Pre-flight integration and characterization of the SPIDER balloon-borne telescope

A. S. Rahlin, P. A. R. Ade, M. Amiri, S. J. Benton, J. J. Bock, J. R. Bond, S. A. Bryan, Hsin C. Chiang, C. R. Contaldi, B. P. Crill, O. Doré, M. Farhang, J. P. Filippini, L. M. Fissel, A. A. Fraisse, A. E. Gambrel, N. N. Gandilo, S. Golwala, Jon E. Gudmundsson, M. Halpern, M. F. Hasselfield, G. Hilton, W. A. Holmes, V. V. Hristov, K. D. Irwin, William C. Jones, Zigmund D. Kermish, C. L. Kuo, C. J. MacTavish, P. V. Mason, K. Megerian, L. Moncelsi, T. A. Morford, J. M. Nagy, C. B. Netterfield, R. O'Brient, C. Reintsema, J. E. Ruhl, M. C. Runyan, J. A. Shariff, J. D. Soler, A. Trangsrud, C. Tucker, R. S. Tucker, A. D. Turner, A. C. Weber, D. V. Wiebe, E. Y. Young

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 9153, Millimeter, Submillimeter, and Far-Infrared Detectors and Instrumentation for Astronomy VII; 915313 (2014) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2055683
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2014, Montréal, Quebec, Canada

Abstract

We present the results of integration and characterization of the Spider instrument after the 2013 pre-flight campaign. Spider is a balloon-borne polarimeter designed to probe the primordial gravitational wave signal in the degree-scale B-mode polarization of the cosmic microwave background. With six independent telescopes housing over 2000 detectors in the 94 GHz and 150 GHz frequency bands, Spider will map 7.5% of the sky with a depth of 11 to 14 μK•arcmin at each frequency, which is a factor of ~5 improvement over Planck. We discuss the integration of the pointing, cryogenic, electronics, and power sub-systems, as well as pre-flight characterization of the detectors and optical systems. Spider is well prepared for a December 2014 flight from Antarctica, and is expected to be limited by astrophysical foreground emission, and not instrumental sensitivity, over the survey region.

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A. S. Rahlin, P. A. R. Ade, M. Amiri, S. J. Benton, J. J. Bock, J. R. Bond, S. A. Bryan, Hsin C. Chiang, C. R. Contaldi, B. P. Crill, O. Doré, M. Farhang, J. P. Filippini, L. M. Fissel, A. A. Fraisse, A. E. Gambrel, N. N. Gandilo, S. Golwala, Jon E. Gudmundsson, M. Halpern, M. F. Hasselfield, G. Hilton, W. A. Holmes, V. V. Hristov, K. D. Irwin, William C. Jones, Zigmund D. Kermish, C. L. Kuo, C. J. MacTavish, P. V. Mason, K. Megerian, L. Moncelsi, T. A. Morford, J. M. Nagy, C. B. Netterfield, R. O'Brient, C. Reintsema, J. E. Ruhl, M. C. Runyan, J. A. Shariff, J. D. Soler, A. Trangsrud, C. Tucker, R. S. Tucker, A. D. Turner, A. C. Weber, D. V. Wiebe, and E. Y. Young "Pre-flight integration and characterization of the SPIDER balloon-borne telescope", Proc. SPIE 9153, Millimeter, Submillimeter, and Far-Infrared Detectors and Instrumentation for Astronomy VII, 915313 (23 July 2014); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2055683

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