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. HalpernM. 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

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

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 μ 1/4K .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.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationMillimeter, Submillimeter, and Far-Infrared Detectors and Instrumentation for Astronomy VII
EditorsJonas Zmuidzinas, Wayne S. Holland
PublisherSPIE
ISBN (Electronic)9780819496218
DOIs
StatePublished - 2014
Externally publishedYes
EventMillimeter, Submillimeter, and Far-Infrared Detectors and Instrumentation for Astronomy VII - Montreal, Canada
Duration: Jun 24 2014Jun 27 2014

Publication series

NameProceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering
Volume9153
ISSN (Print)0277-786X
ISSN (Electronic)1996-756X

Other

OtherMillimeter, Submillimeter, and Far-Infrared Detectors and Instrumentation for Astronomy VII
Country/TerritoryCanada
CityMontreal
Period6/24/146/27/14

Keywords

  • Spider
  • cosmic microwave background
  • cosmology
  • inflation
  • millimeter wave instrumentation
  • polarization
  • scientific ballooning
  • transition-edge sensor

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
  • Condensed Matter Physics
  • Computer Science Applications
  • Applied Mathematics
  • Electrical and Electronic Engineering

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