Yellowstone Times

An instrument designed and built at Montana State University to measure X-rays in solar flares is set for departure to the International Space Station (ISS) next week. The device, known as the Solar Flare X-ray Timing Investigation (SFXTI), is part of a 6,700-pound payload to be delivered by a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft on a Falcon 9 rocket. This mission is tasked with bringing food, essential equipment, and science experiments to the ISS.

Developed for NASA by Montana State University's Space Science and Engineering Laboratory, the SFXTI was funded through the Montana NASA EPSCoR program. The device is designed to measure "hard X-ray" radiation emitted by the sun. Hard X-rays, characterized by high energy and short wavelengths, are more penetrating than soft X-rays. Dave Klumpar, a former research professor at MSU, explained, "Montana State’s internationally known Solar Physics Group and others of us work both on understanding what the variable sun does and on the effects of solar disturbances on the earth."

Klumpar and a team, including several SSEL engineers and about a dozen undergraduate and graduate students from MSU, constructed the SFXTI. The instrument uses crystals to interact with hard X-rays, producing light that is then measured and recorded. The device can measure data 32 times per second, making it more advanced than previous models.

The SFXTI, weighing 7 pounds, will be positioned on a platform outside the ISS where it will operate continuously for a year. It will record X-rays from solar flares when exposed to the sun and measure background X-rays from other phenomena while the station is in Earth's shadow. The data collected is expected to advance the understanding of solar flares and the acceleration mechanisms of non-thermal electrons.

The Dragon spacecraft is scheduled to launch from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 2:15 a.m. Mountain time on Monday, April 21. NASA+ will provide live launch coverage starting at 1:55 a.m., and will cover the spacecraft's arrival at the ISS from 4:45 a.m. on Tuesday, April 22.