Validating the Athena Calibration Requirements
Abstract
A critical element of mission success is the ability to accurately calibrate its instrumentation. In preparation for the ~2030 launch of ESA's Athena X-ray observatory, we are conducting an empirical exercise to verify the consistency between Athena's nominal science objectives and its science and calibration requirements. Our work consists of performing simulations to reproduce the expected measurements obtained through an Athena observation as well as its instrument and telescope performance. More specifically, this validation process is divided into two "tiers," where Tier 1 represents top-level scientific validation of the requirements on the basis of astrophysically-motivated simulations reproducing the corresponding requirements, while Tier 2 derives the systematic uncertainties on the instrument/telescope calibration parameters based on a system-level validation of these requirements using instrument/telescope simulators. Here we describe our progress in this exercise.
- Publication:
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AAS/High Energy Astrophysics Division
- Pub Date:
- March 2019
- Bibcode:
- 2019HEAD...1710916B