Australia Telescope National Facility

LOBSTER X-ray Satellite
Funded under the International Collaboration Project of the
MNRF Program

Proposer: K Nugent and R Webster

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This project is allowing Australian participation in the planning of a proposed X-ray all-sky monitor, known as LOBSTER. The LOBSTER collaboration consists of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, the Los Alamos National Laboratory, and the Universities of Melbourne, Leicester and Wisconsin. The satellite is in the conceptual phase of its development and will be competing for NASA funding of over $A100M, under the "Small Explorer" scheme. In evaluations to date, the project has received excellent assessments of its scientific goals but it has been advised that its technical readiness needs to be improved if funding is to be approved. The MNRF financial allocation has been used to employ a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow (Dr S Brumby) to find solutions to physics problems confronting the application of novel optics developed by the University of Melbourne for the LOBSTER mission.

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The project has enjoyed considerable success in the last year; a new approach to analysing defects in the X-ray optics has been proposed and Melbourne's formal collaborative roles planned. These roles include development of an end-to-end model for the final scientific payload, and participation in development of data-analysis tools for LOBSTER. The operational satellite will use automated ground stations, one of which will be located in Melbourne. Connections with collaboration partners have been strengthened, with the Research Fellow having spent more than a month in late-1997 with the overseas groups. Dr Brumby will continue with the LOBSTER mission beyond the MNRF-sponsored project, having accepted a post-doctoral position with Los Alamos National Laboratory (to begin later in 1998). A new PhD student has been recruited to ensure Melbourne's continuing participation in the mission. The proposers note that there is considerable uncertainty in obtaining continuing funding of the Australian contribution to LOBSTER, citing difficulties with the Australian Research Council grant submission guidelines relating to instrumental research.

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This page is maintained by Michelle Storey
Last update by Michelle Storey. 29/10/98