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Compton Spectrometer and Imager
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<h2 id="history">History</h2> <p>COSI has its origins in the <a href="/facts/Nuclear_Compton_Telescope/QGqjomFy">Nuclear Compton Telescope</a> (NCT),<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6"><sup>6</sup></a> which was a prototype designed to study astrophysical sources of nuclear line emission and gamma-ray polarization. The NCT was a balloon-borne soft gamma-ray telescope, flying on several high-altitude balloon missions to test and refine its technology. Flights included launches from locations such as New Zealand and Antarctica.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7"><sup>7</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:8" href="#fn:8"><sup>8</sup></a> </p> <p>COSI evolved from the advancements and lessons learned from the NCT missions. The improved design incorporated germanium cross-strip detectors to enhance sensitivity and resolution. This progression culminated in the development of a more sophisticated instrument capable of high-resolution spectroscopy, wide-field imaging, and gamma-ray polarization measurements. The successful demonstration of NCT's technology in balloon missions laid the groundwork for COSI to be selected as a NASA Small Explorer (SMEX) mission.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:9" href="#fn:9"><sup>9</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:10" href="#fn:10"><sup>10</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="mission">Mission</h2> <p>"For more than 60 years, NASA has provided opportunities for inventive, smaller-scale missions to fill knowledge gaps where we still seek answers", said <a href="/facts/Thomas_Zurbuchen/9oNQIqBU">Thomas Zurbuchen</a>, associate administrator for the agency's <a href="/facts/Science_Mission_Directorate/uNhAcYLb">Science Mission Directorate</a> in <a href="/facts/Washington%2c_D.C./enXPK156">Washington, D.C.</a> "COSI will answer questions about the origin of the <a href="/facts/Chemical_element/0jducgWD">chemical elements</a> in our own Milky Way <a href="/facts/Galaxy/zCyUvEf7">galaxy</a>, the very ingredients critical to the formation of <a href="/facts/Earth/HLLmDfj0">Earth</a> itself".<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:11" href="#fn:11"><sup>11</sup></a> </p><p>The <a href="/facts/Principal_investigator/GXE6ILvW">principal investigator</a> is John Tomsick at the <a href="/facts/University_of_California%2c_Berkeley/MXVEjklr">University of California, Berkeley</a>. The mission will cost approximately US$145 million, with an additional launch cost of approximately US$69 million.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:12" href="#fn:12"><sup>12</sup></a> The spacecraft is targeted to launch August 2027 on a <a href="/facts/SpaceX/2tKHsVdJ">SpaceX</a> <a href="/facts/Falcon_9/mNck6vby">Falcon 9</a> rocket from <a href="/facts/Cape_Canaveral_Space_Force_Station/dwJ9MCPH">Cape Canaveral Space Force Station</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:13" href="#fn:13"><sup>13</sup></a> The COSI team spent decades developing their technology through flights on scientific balloons. In 2016, they sent a version of the gamma-ray instrument aboard NASA's super pressure balloon, which is designed for long flights and heavy lifts.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:14" href="#fn:14"><sup>14</sup></a> </p><p>NASA's <a href="/facts/Explorers_Program/UAWJXqxP">Explorers Program</a> is the agency's oldest continuous program. It provides frequent, low-cost access to space using principal investigator-led space research relevant to the astrophysics and heliophysics programs. Since the 1958 launch of <a href="/facts/Explorer_1/m4jWb1A0">Explorer 1</a>, which discovered <a href="/facts/Van_Allen_radiation_belt/XKnhnWK0">Earth's radiation belts</a>, the program has launched more than 90 missions. The <a href="/facts/Cosmic_Background_Explorer/U3QfJ3Al">Cosmic Background Explorer</a> (COBE), another NASA Explorer mission, led to a <a href="/facts/Nobel_Prize/3z1Y3oFL">Nobel Prize</a> in 2006 for its principal investigators. NASA's <a href="/facts/Goddard_Space_Flight_Center/WfoEKknM">Goddard Space Flight Center</a> in <a href="/facts/Greenbelt%2c_Maryland/x56geTIz">Greenbelt, Maryland</a>, manages the program for NASA.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:15" href="#fn:15"><sup>15</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="partnership">Partnership</h2> <p>COSI is a collaboration between High Energy Astrophysics Group, <a href="/facts/Space_Sciences_Laboratory/9w4ftAa6">Space Sciences Laboratory</a> at UC Berkeley; Center for Astrophysics and Space Sciences, <a href="/facts/University_of_California%2c_San_Diego/srMClpNv">UCSD</a>; Institute of Astronomy at <a href="/facts/National_Tsing_Hua_University/xck41c1T">National Tsing Hua University</a>, Taiwan; <a href="/facts/Lawrence_Berkeley_National_Laboratory/tvjPSwC9">Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory</a>; <a href="/facts/Goddard_Space_Flight_Center/WfoEKknM">NASA Goddard Space Flight Center</a>; <a href="/facts/United_States_Naval_Research_Laboratory/brXxYx34">U.S. Naval Research Laboratory</a>; <a href="/facts/Columbia_Scientific_Balloon_Facility/7FNjawGa">NASA Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility</a> and <a href="https://blogs.nasa.gov/superpressureballoon/">NASA Super Pressure Balloon Blog</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:16" href="#fn:16"><sup>16</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="see-also">See also</h2> <ul> <li>Spaceflight portal</li></ul> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Gamma-ray_astronomy/s59YdwaX">Gamma-ray astronomy</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Compton_scattering/Q98Ty8rz">Compton scattering</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Semiconductor_detector/HzvpIobR"> Semiconductor detector: Germanium detectors</a></li></ul> <h2 id="external-links">External links</h2> <ul><li><a href="https://cosi.ssl.berkeley.edu/">Project web site</a></li> <li><a href="https://cosi.ssl.berkeley.edu/instrument/design/">How the instrument functions</a></li> <li><a href="https://arxiv.org/abs/1908.04334">The Compton Spectrometer and Imager</a> Astro2020 APC White Paper (Tomsick et al)</li></ul> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>"COSI". NASA. 16 June 2023. Retrieved 22 December 2023. <a href="https://science.nasa.gov/mission/cosi" target="_blank">https://science.nasa.gov/mission/cosi</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>"NASA Selects Gamma-ray Telescope to Chart Milky Way Evolution". NASA. 18 October 2021. Retrieved 21 October 2021. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain. <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-selects-gamma-ray-telescope-to-chart-milky-way-evolution" target="_blank">https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-selects-gamma-ray-telescope-to-chart-milky-way-evolution</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:3"><p>McEnery, Julie; et al. (2019). "All-sky Medium Energy Gamma-ray Observatory: Exploring the Extreme Multimessenger Universe". Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society. 51 (7): 245. arXiv:1907.07558. Bibcode:2019BAAS...51g.245M. <a href="/wiki/ArXiv_(identifier)" target="_blank">/wiki/ArXiv_(identifier)</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:4"><p>Tomsick, John A.; et al. (2023). "The Compton Spectrometer and Imager". arXiv:2308.12362 [astro-ph.HE]. <a href="/wiki/ArXiv_(identifier)" target="_blank">/wiki/ArXiv_(identifier)</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:5"><p>Tomsick, John A.; et al. (2023). "The Compton Spectrometer and Imager". arXiv:2308.12362 [astro-ph.HE]. <a href="/wiki/ArXiv_(identifier)" target="_blank">/wiki/ArXiv_(identifier)</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:6"><p>Chang, Hsiang-Kuang; Boggs, Steven; Chang, Yuan-Hann (1 January 2007). "The Nuclear Compton Telescope (NCT): Scientific goals and expected sensitivity". Advances in Space Research. 40 (8): 1281–1287. Bibcode:2007AdSpR..40.1281C. doi:10.1016/j.asr.2007.07.012. ISSN 0273-1177. <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0273117707007752" target="_blank">https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0273117707007752</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:7"><p>Chang, Hsiang-Kuang; Boggs, Steven; Chang, Yuan-Hann (1 January 2007). "The Nuclear Compton Telescope (NCT): Scientific goals and expected sensitivity". Advances in Space Research. 40 (8): 1281–1287. Bibcode:2007AdSpR..40.1281C. doi:10.1016/j.asr.2007.07.012. ISSN 0273-1177. <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0273117707007752" target="_blank">https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0273117707007752</a> <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:8"><p>"Previous Campaigns". COSI. 13 March 2016. Retrieved 20 July 2024. <a href="https://cosi.ssl.berkeley.edu/campaigns/previous-campaigns/" target="_blank">https://cosi.ssl.berkeley.edu/campaigns/previous-campaigns/</a> <a href="#fnref:8" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:9"><p>"NASA Selects Gamma-ray Telescope to Chart Milky Way Evolution". NASA. 18 October 2021. Retrieved 21 October 2021. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain. <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-selects-gamma-ray-telescope-to-chart-milky-way-evolution" target="_blank">https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-selects-gamma-ray-telescope-to-chart-milky-way-evolution</a> <a href="#fnref:9" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:10"><p>"COSI". COSI. 4 December 2020. Retrieved 20 July 2024. <a href="https://cosi.ssl.berkeley.edu/blog/" target="_blank">https://cosi.ssl.berkeley.edu/blog/</a> <a href="#fnref:10" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:11"><p>"NASA Selects Gamma-ray Telescope to Chart Milky Way Evolution". NASA. 18 October 2021. Retrieved 21 October 2021. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain. <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-selects-gamma-ray-telescope-to-chart-milky-way-evolution" target="_blank">https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-selects-gamma-ray-telescope-to-chart-milky-way-evolution</a> <a href="#fnref:11" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:12"><p>"NASA Awards Launch Services Contract for Space Telescope Mission – NASA". Retrieved 2 July 2024. <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-awards-launch-services-contract-for-space-telescope-mission/" target="_blank">https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-awards-launch-services-contract-for-space-telescope-mission/</a> <a href="#fnref:12" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:13"><p>"NASA Awards Launch Services Contract for Space Telescope Mission – NASA". Retrieved 2 July 2024. <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-awards-launch-services-contract-for-space-telescope-mission/" target="_blank">https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-awards-launch-services-contract-for-space-telescope-mission/</a> <a href="#fnref:13" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:14"><p>"NASA Selects Gamma-ray Telescope to Chart Milky Way Evolution". NASA. 18 October 2021. Retrieved 21 October 2021. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain. <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-selects-gamma-ray-telescope-to-chart-milky-way-evolution" target="_blank">https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-selects-gamma-ray-telescope-to-chart-milky-way-evolution</a> <a href="#fnref:14" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:15"><p>"NASA Selects Gamma-ray Telescope to Chart Milky Way Evolution". NASA. 18 October 2021. Retrieved 21 October 2021. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain. <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-selects-gamma-ray-telescope-to-chart-milky-way-evolution" target="_blank">https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-selects-gamma-ray-telescope-to-chart-milky-way-evolution</a> <a href="#fnref:15" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:16"><p>"Balloon Team". COSI. 11 March 2016. Retrieved 19 July 2024. <a href="https://cosi.ssl.berkeley.edu/team/" target="_blank">https://cosi.ssl.berkeley.edu/team/</a> <a href="#fnref:16" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>