NuSTAR Mast Prototype

Essential to the NuSTAR design is a deployable mast which extends to a 10 meters (30 feet) after launch. This mast will separate the NuSTAR X-ray optics from the detectors, a necessity for the long focal length inherent to grazing incidence high energy X-ray optics. Using a deployable structure allows NuSTAR to launch on a Pegasus XL rocket, one of the smaller launch vehicles available. Previous X-ray missions such as Chandra and XMM-Newton launched fully deployed on larger, more expensive rockets.

This extendable mast is being built by ATK Goleta, who specialize in space-based deployable structures. They have built structures on the International Space Station, on Mars landers, and a mast similar in design albeit much larger in scale that flew on the Space Shuttle Endeavor in February 2000. To test and demonstrate the manufacturing techniques and capabilities of the NuSTAR mast, a three-bay proto-flight unit was built in Spring 2009.