SMILE SXI

Soft X-ray Imager

SXI is the X-rax instrument on the Chinese-European Mission SMILE
(Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer)

VISIT PROJECT SITE

ROLE OF THE INSTITUTE FOR DATA SCIENCE

> Thermal design of SXI

> Imaging software

> Data analysis and interpretation

Project lead at I4Ds: Säm Krucker

Partners: University of Leicester (PI Steven Sembay) , Koegl Space, Space Acoustics, FHNW IPP, ZHAW FHNW IPP, ZHAW

Funding: Swiss Prodex

Start: December 2018
Launch: 2025

Keywords: space sciences, heliophysics, space weather, Smile mission

SUMMARY

The space mission SMILE will orbit the Earth in an elliptical pathway from 5000 km above the Earth to one third of the distance to the moon. While previous studies used observations from within or around Earth’s magnetic field, SMILE will take images and movies from outside of Earth’s protective magnetic shield. We will see the region where the solar wind slams into the Earth’s magnetic field. With these global and time dependent images, SMILE will revolutionize our understanding of the influences of space weather on our planet.

PEOPLE @FHNW WHO WORK ON SXI

Prof. Dr. Hans-Peter Gröbelbauer (IPP)

Maschinenbauingenieur

more information

Prof. Dr. Säm Krucker (I4DS)

Astrophysicist

more information

Francesco Pio Ramundo

Phd Student

PEOPLE @FHNW WHO WORKED ON SXI BEFORE

Oliver Studer, until 2024
Florian Wirz, until 2024
Anya Liebendörfer, until 2021
Manela Dreier, until 2021
Nico Gradwohl, until 2020
Matthias Fankhauser, until 2019

OPEN RESOURCES AND RESULTS

Presentation SMILE SXI at Transfer Transparent

Initial Presentation SMILE SXI

Solar activity in ultraviolet wavelength

Initial Presentation SMILE SXI

A solar flare followed by a coronal mass ejection

Initial Presentation SMILE SXI

Image processing techniques are needed for separating the coronal mass ejection from the star field

Coronal mass ejections may create beautiful auroras but also disrupt satellites, radio communication and even electrical power grids.

Initial Presentation SMILE SXI

VISUALS AND AUDIO

Every day, Earth faces a relentless attack from the Sun. A usually steady rain of tiny but fierce particles known as the solar wind can sometimes be interrupted by much bigger blasts, just like the one shown at the beginning of this video.

Luckily, we have a defence: Earth’s magnetic field. This shield that Earth holds up against the solar wind and coronal mass ejections is all that prevents our thriving planet from turning into a barren wasteland.

And finally, we’ve reached a moment in history where our scientific tools and technologies are advanced enough to get to the bottom of how exactly this magnetic shield works.

Our latest investigator is a special space mission called Smile. Smile is equipped with a unique toolkit to give us our first complete look at the interaction between the solar wind and Earth.

It will be the first-ever mission to look at the edge of Earth’s magnetic field with X-ray vision, to uncover where and how our shield is hit.

At the same time, it will use ultraviolet vision to record the northern lights for 44 hours at a time, helping us understand how exactly Earth responds to solar storms.

Smile will send the data it collects back down to Earth, mainly to a ground station in O’Higgins, Antarctica. Scientists will dig deep into this data to find out more.

They will tackle big questions like: What happens where the solar wind meets Earth’s magnetic shield? What causes magnetic glitches on the dark side of Earth? And how can we predict the most dangerous threats in advance? Credit: CAS/ESA

The SMILE spacecraft will carry two imaging instruments – the wide field of view soft X-ray imager (SXI) and an auroral ultraviolet imager (UVI) – and an in situ measurement package that will work in conjunction with the imagers to explore the properties of the solar wind. Image credit: CAS/ESA

The Soft X-ray Imager SXI is one of four instuments onboard the SMILE spacecraft. It is a wide-field lobster-eye telescope with two X-ray-sensitive CCD detectors observing emissions from charged particles hitting the Earth’s magnetospheric boundaries. The FHNW astro-helio group will build the radiator for cooling the X-ray detectors and develop the imaging software. The four CAD-images above show the SXI instrument and the radiator. Image credit: U. Leicester, UK

Official video of the ESA-Chinese Academy of Sciences SMILE mission presented by NSSC. View video on YouTube

SMILE is a joint China – ESA mission to study the impact of the solar wind on the Earth’s magnetosphere. Artist’s conception by ESA/ATG medialab

Auroras (polar lights) are one example of solar wind impacting the Earth. However, charged particles from the sun may affect our planet in many ways. Technology in space, e.g. satellites, is particularly at risk. Image: ESA/NASA

AFTER THE DELIVERY

Our hardware was delivered to ESA at the end of 2020, but that’s not the end of the story. Following some reports and images of the subsequent tests, some at FHNW and others at premises of the ESA, the University of Leicester and in Shanghai.

Tests and images by Stefan Koegl, Koegl Space

December 7, 2023: Another door closed! … This time it is the door of the thermal vacuum chamber at FHNW with the VenSpec-H Filter Wheel Mechanism Breadboard inside.
After successful vibration tests in November, the thermal vacuum tests on the Filter Wheel Mechanism Breadboard have been started this week and are well on the way. Due to its high technical maturity also a lifetime test will be carried out after the thermal vacuum testing.
On the picture: the Filter Wheel Mechanism Breadboard in the thermal chamber at FHNW. It was developed by HSLU, FHNW and KOEGL Space which are members of the Swiss Consortium for VenSpec-H Instrument on ESA’s EnVision mission.

November 27, 2023: Door closed! … the door of the Thermal Vaccum Chamber at RAL was closed last Friday with the flight model of the SMILE SXI instrument inside. After successful vibration tests in October, the Thermal Vacuum test campaign of the SMILE SXI flight model has started this week, conducted by the instrument lead University of Leicester (UK) supported by Space Acoustics from the Swiss team in charge of the thermal engineering. On the picture in the front row: the cryogenic radiator developed by our Swiss team, comprising FHNW, ZHAW, Space Acoustics and KOEGL Space.

February 7, 2023: The flight model of our cryogenic radiator was accepted. At the University of Leicester, the radiator is now to be ttached to the soft X-ray imager SXI. SXI is the largest instrument that will be launched into space in 2025 on board the Chinese-European solar mission SMILE.

As every step in the development of such an instrument has to be meticulously documented, we have images of it in very good quality.

April 21, 2022: The SMILE payload module ready for the thermal- and the vibration tests, featuring the X-ray telescope SXS. The Swiss contribution is the radiator assembly behind the red protective device. See our logos from FHNW, ZHAW, Space Acoustics and KOEGL Space.

Video with the highlights from the test campaign of the Smile payload module at Airbus Madrid and the European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC) in Noordwijk, October 2021 – March 2022. For some tests, the red protective device has been removed, and you can see the white radiator assemby produced at FHNW, for example at minute 3:08.

Video: ESA/Airbus/Lightcurve Films

November 26, 2020: After assembling the Structure and Thermal Model (STM) of our Radiator Assembly (RadA) in the summer, we were able to successfully carry out the shock and vibration test at the FHNW in October / November. Despite the corona-related restrictions, everything went very well.

After various other tests, the RadA STM was cleaned and packed.

Today we sent the associated data package with more than 30 documents for acceptance on 01.12.20 by the University of Leicester (UoL) and ESA / Prodex. Delivery is planned for 07.12.2020.

The MLI (Multi Layer Insulation) for the SXI STM, which is part of the SXI Thermal Subsystem under our technical leadership, was accepted on 10.11.20 and will be delivered to UoL in the next few days.

This will complete all hardware deliveries for the SMILE SXI STM under our responsibility. At the beginning of 2021, we expect to start Phase C Extension, which is currently under discussion with Prodex / SSO.

A spacecraft inside an anechoic chamber, which is used for testing purposes. The spacecraft is covered in gold-coloured thermal insulation and has several solar panels on its top section. There are three people in white lab coats and hairnets standing around the spacecraft, likely engineers or technicians conducting tests or inspections. The chamber walls are lined with blue pyramid-shaped foam to absorb sound waves and electromagnetic radiation, ensuring accurate testing conditions. The date ‘24 03 2025’ is visible in the bottom right corner of the image.

June 4, 2025: The gold-cloaked Smile spacecraft in the Maxwell Test Chamber at Europe’s largest satellite test facility, ESTEC as part of its ‘space environment testing’ phase.

The Maxwell chamber’s 9 m-high walls, lined with foam spikes, absorb signals and sound, mimicking the void of space. Once its main door is sealed, Maxwell’s metal walls form a ‘Faraday Cage’, screening out all external electromagnetic signals.

In this image, we see engineers from ESA, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and European Test Services preparing Smile for electromagnetic compatibility testing.

Like most spacecraft, Smile is very sensitive. It is designed to pick up very weak magnetic field signals, whilst transmitting a lot of data down to Earth with high-power antennas. Engineers use electromagnetic compatibility tests to check that the spacecraft works well when all its electronics are switched on, making sure that there is no ‘crosstalk’ between them.

Another important part of the electromagnetic compatibility tests is to make sure that Smile is safe to launch inside the Vega-C rocket that will take it to space. The rocket and its associated ground systems also carry lots of electronics; we need to be sure that they are not disturbed by Smile, and vice versa.

During the space environment testing phase, engineers are taking Smile through tough checks, needing it to pass with flying colours before being allowed out on its own. Other tests include making sure that the entire system can operate properly in the vacuum of space, that its solar arrays will unfold correctly after launch, and that the violent launch won’t shake the spacecraft apart. Credit: ESA – M. Roos