Agile — Wikipedia

Technical characteristics

Mass at launch	325 kg

Main instruments

GRID	Gamma rays detector (30 MEV-50 GEV)
Super-AGILE	X-ray detector (10-40 KEV)
CsI	Mini Calimètre (0.25-200 MEV)

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AGILE ( Astro – ranger -a light images) is a small spatial astronomical observatory developed by the Italian space agency and launched in 2007. It observes the gamma rays having an energy between 30 MEV and 50 GeV and X -rays between ten And 40 convey Emitted by different sources such as active galactic centers and gamma bursts.

The satellite aims to observe several types of gamma rays sources in particular ^{[ first ]} :

Agile is a small spatial astronomical observatory of 325 kg including 120 kg of payload. The satellite is stabilized 3 axes with a precision of 0.5 to 1 °. The instrument pointing azimut is reconstructed with an accuracy of 1 arcminate using two stellar sensors. A GPS receiver allows you to date events with an accuracy of 1 to 2 microseconds. The flow of the downward bond with the ground is 50 kilobits per second and the mass memory is 500 megabits; The instruments generate approximately 50 kilobits of data per second which allows them to be transferred only when the Malindi floor station (Kenya) is in sight. Solar panels provide the 130 watts of energy used by instrumentation and the platform. The satellite is placed on an equatorial circular orbit with an inclination of 2.5 ° and an altitude of 550 km . The solar panels are fixed which requires certain constraints on the pointing of the instruments ^{[ 2 ]} .

Scientific instruments [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

The satellite has two instruments ^{[ 3 ]} :

• The Gamma Grid rays detector ( Gamma-Ray Imaging Detector ) capable of observing the radiation having an energy between 30 MeV and 50 gev. His reaction time is remarkable for the time of his design (<200 microseconds). GRID is made up of an anticoincarity system that detects cosmic rays using plastic scintillators, a trajectographer including tungsten sheets and silicon detectors as well as a minic (MC) based on iodide iodide cesium responsible for measuring the energy of gamma photons. The angular resolution is between 5 and 20 arcminates for intense sources and the field of view is 3 steradians.
• The super-super-acting X-ray detector capable of observing the radiation whose energy is between ten And 40 convey . It makes it possible to detect sources emitting X and gamma rays with an accuracy of 1 to 3 minutes of arc.

The agile program is offered in June 1997 to the Italian space agency. After a phase of pre -study, its funding is decided in June 1999 : this is the first mission of the Italian program Small scientific missions, the equivalent of the American SMEX ^{[ first ]} .
The cost of developing and maintaining agile operational condition on the basis of a nominal duration of 2 years was estimated at the end of 2004 to € 44 million to which is added € 1.5 million per year for scientific activities ^{[ 2 ]} .

Scientific results [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

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