Payload
Composed by Marte Newcombe (GST)

Components of Image: Differential equations -- Greg Shirah (NASA/GSFC/SVS) Differential equations are equations that relate a function f to its derivatives. This type of function finds widespread application in science and technology.

Mathematical artwork -- Greg Shirah (NASA/GSFC/SVS)

BBXRT Mission Monitor screensnap -- Greg Shirah (NASA/GSFC/SVS) The Broad Band X-ray Telescope, BBXRT, was flown on the Space Shuttle Columbia as part of the Astro-1 payload in December 1990. During this mission it performed 157 observations of 80 celestial X-ray sources ranging from stars, CVs and X-ray binaries to clusters of galaxies and the X-ray background. BBXRT has an energy range considerably broader than that of the Einstein SSS (0.3-12 keV) and a spectral resolution a factor of four improved over the EXOSAT and Tenma Gas Scintillation Proportional Counters (9% at 1 keV; 2.5% at 6 keV). In addition to the many scientific results derived from BBXRT data, the mission also tested the on-orbit behavior of the novel thin-foil conical mirror assembly and the broad-band solid-state detectors.

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