The EBEX Balloon-borne Experiment—Gondola, Attitude Control, and Control Software
Abstract
The E and B Experiment (EBEX) was a long-duration balloon-borne instrument created to measure the polarization of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation. EBEX was the first balloon-borne instrument to implement a kilopixel array of transition edge sensor (TES) bolometric detectors and the first CMB experiment to use the digital version of the frequency domain multiplexing system for readout of the TES array. The scan strategy relied on 40 s peak-to-peak constant-velocity azimuthal scans. We report on the unique demands on the design and operation of the payload that resulted from these new technologies and the scan strategy. We describe the solutions implemented, including the development of a power system designed to provide a total of at least 2.3 kW, a cooling system to dissipate 590 W consumed by the detectors' readout system, software to manage and handle the data of the kilopixel array, and specialized attitude reconstruction software. We demonstrate flight performance data reflecting faultless management of the TES array, adequate powering and cooling of the readout electronics, and constraint of attitude reconstruction errors such that the spurious B-modes they induced were less than 10% of the CMB B-mode power spectrum with r = 0.05.
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- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE; National Aeronautic and Space Administration (NASA); National Science Foundation (NSF)
- Contributing Org.:
- The EBEX Collaboration
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1544088
- Resource Type:
- Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Name:
- The Astrophysical Journal. Supplement Series (Online)
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Name: The Astrophysical Journal. Supplement Series (Online); Journal Volume: 239; Journal Issue: 1; Journal ID: ISSN 1538-4365
- Publisher:
- American Astronomical Society/IOP
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS; balloons; cosmic background radiation; cosmology: observations; instrumentation: polarimeters; polarization
Citation Formats
Aboobaker, Asad, Ade, Peter, Araujo, Derek, Aubin, François, Baccigalupi, Carlo, Bao, Chaoyun, Chapman, Daniel, Didier, Joy, Dobbs, Matt, Grainger, Will, Hanany, Shaul, Helson, Kyle, Hillbrand, Seth, Hubmayr, Johannes, Jaffe, Andrew, Johnson, Bradley, Jones, Terry, Klein, Jeff, Korotkov, Andrei, Lee, Adrian, Levinson, Lorne, Limon, Michele, MacDermid, Kevin, Miller, Amber D., Milligan, Michael, Moncelsi, Lorenzo, Pascale, Enzo, Raach, Kate, Reichborn-Kjennerud, Britt, Sagiv, Ilan, Tucker, Carole, Tucker, Gregory S., Westbrook, Benjamin, Young, Karl, and Zilic, Kyle. The EBEX Balloon-borne Experiment—Gondola, Attitude Control, and Control Software. United States: N. p., 2018.
Web. doi:10.3847/1538-4365/aae435.
Aboobaker, Asad, Ade, Peter, Araujo, Derek, Aubin, François, Baccigalupi, Carlo, Bao, Chaoyun, Chapman, Daniel, Didier, Joy, Dobbs, Matt, Grainger, Will, Hanany, Shaul, Helson, Kyle, Hillbrand, Seth, Hubmayr, Johannes, Jaffe, Andrew, Johnson, Bradley, Jones, Terry, Klein, Jeff, Korotkov, Andrei, Lee, Adrian, Levinson, Lorne, Limon, Michele, MacDermid, Kevin, Miller, Amber D., Milligan, Michael, Moncelsi, Lorenzo, Pascale, Enzo, Raach, Kate, Reichborn-Kjennerud, Britt, Sagiv, Ilan, Tucker, Carole, Tucker, Gregory S., Westbrook, Benjamin, Young, Karl, & Zilic, Kyle. The EBEX Balloon-borne Experiment—Gondola, Attitude Control, and Control Software. United States. doi:10.3847/1538-4365/aae435.
Aboobaker, Asad, Ade, Peter, Araujo, Derek, Aubin, François, Baccigalupi, Carlo, Bao, Chaoyun, Chapman, Daniel, Didier, Joy, Dobbs, Matt, Grainger, Will, Hanany, Shaul, Helson, Kyle, Hillbrand, Seth, Hubmayr, Johannes, Jaffe, Andrew, Johnson, Bradley, Jones, Terry, Klein, Jeff, Korotkov, Andrei, Lee, Adrian, Levinson, Lorne, Limon, Michele, MacDermid, Kevin, Miller, Amber D., Milligan, Michael, Moncelsi, Lorenzo, Pascale, Enzo, Raach, Kate, Reichborn-Kjennerud, Britt, Sagiv, Ilan, Tucker, Carole, Tucker, Gregory S., Westbrook, Benjamin, Young, Karl, and Zilic, Kyle. Tue .
"The EBEX Balloon-borne Experiment—Gondola, Attitude Control, and Control Software". United States. doi:10.3847/1538-4365/aae435. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1544088.
@article{osti_1544088,
title = {The EBEX Balloon-borne Experiment—Gondola, Attitude Control, and Control Software},
author = {Aboobaker, Asad and Ade, Peter and Araujo, Derek and Aubin, François and Baccigalupi, Carlo and Bao, Chaoyun and Chapman, Daniel and Didier, Joy and Dobbs, Matt and Grainger, Will and Hanany, Shaul and Helson, Kyle and Hillbrand, Seth and Hubmayr, Johannes and Jaffe, Andrew and Johnson, Bradley and Jones, Terry and Klein, Jeff and Korotkov, Andrei and Lee, Adrian and Levinson, Lorne and Limon, Michele and MacDermid, Kevin and Miller, Amber D. and Milligan, Michael and Moncelsi, Lorenzo and Pascale, Enzo and Raach, Kate and Reichborn-Kjennerud, Britt and Sagiv, Ilan and Tucker, Carole and Tucker, Gregory S. and Westbrook, Benjamin and Young, Karl and Zilic, Kyle},
abstractNote = {The E and B Experiment (EBEX) was a long-duration balloon-borne instrument created to measure the polarization of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation. EBEX was the first balloon-borne instrument to implement a kilopixel array of transition edge sensor (TES) bolometric detectors and the first CMB experiment to use the digital version of the frequency domain multiplexing system for readout of the TES array. The scan strategy relied on 40 s peak-to-peak constant-velocity azimuthal scans. We report on the unique demands on the design and operation of the payload that resulted from these new technologies and the scan strategy. We describe the solutions implemented, including the development of a power system designed to provide a total of at least 2.3 kW, a cooling system to dissipate 590 W consumed by the detectors' readout system, software to manage and handle the data of the kilopixel array, and specialized attitude reconstruction software. We demonstrate flight performance data reflecting faultless management of the TES array, adequate powering and cooling of the readout electronics, and constraint of attitude reconstruction errors such that the spurious B-modes they induced were less than 10% of the CMB B-mode power spectrum with r = 0.05.},
doi = {10.3847/1538-4365/aae435},
journal = {The Astrophysical Journal. Supplement Series (Online)},
number = 1,
volume = 239,
place = {United States},
year = {2018},
month = {11}
}
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Works referencing / citing this record:
Balloon-borne Cosmic Microwave Background experiments
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The EBEX Balloon-borne Experiment—Detectors and Readout
journal, November 2018
- Abitbol, Maximilian; Aboobaker, Asad M.; Ade, Peter
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