New invention by NASA: Use hidden crystals to show directions for new spacecraft!

NASA has successfully invented a way to guide the way of new automatic astronaut lines. Using hidden crystals as a landmark, Spacecraft will be able to reach locations outside the Solar System and beyond.

Specifically, it is called Technology of X-ray X-ray and Space Orientation Discovery Station , abbreviated as SEXTANT . It uses to determine the location of these, similar to the way GPS uses satellites to navigate.

Vela metaphor.

"This is a breakthrough in future space exploration," said SEXTANT project manager, Jason Mitchell. "We have successfully tested the X-ray navigation system and operate in real time in the Universe, we are leading this industry."

For those who wonder, there are strong magnetic fields, very fast rotating, invisible to the naked eye, can only "see" them with radio waves. When they rotate, hidden crystals produce strong electromagnetic radiation. If you look at an appropriate angle, you will be able to see the rays emitted from the hidden crystal, turning them into a perfect lighthouse. And yet, in the universe, the number of hidden crystals is quite high and has a fixed position.

Metaphor will be the beacon that guides the spacecraft.

SEXTANT acts as a GPS navigation device that receives signals from three different GPS satellites, all fitted with an atomic clock to indicate an accurate timeline. The receiver measures the deviation time between these satellites and converts that deviation into an exact spatial coordinates.

Electromagnetic radiation emitted from pulses can be clearly shown in the X-ray spectrum, which is why NASA engineers chose X-rays as SEXTANT's core technology.

In order to do that, they attached a large observation device like a washing machine to the ISS International Space Station, called the Internal Structure Discovery Device after Neutron - NICER . It consists of 52 X-ray telescopes and radioactive detectors (silicon drift detector - SDD) to study neutron stars and also hidden stars.

NICER is attached to the ISS station.

They directed NICER towards 4 horizons: J0218 + 4232, B1821-24, J0030 + 0451, and J0437-4715. The accuracy of this NICER device is so high that the signal that the other hidden stars could be predicted could be predicted many years later by NICER.

Within 2 days, NICER made 78 measurements of the above asteroids, the data will be processed by SEXTANT and given the final coordinates.

It will take several years for this navigation system to be truly effective and guide the future of space-based cruise ships. But at least now, we have proven that this is the most effective system we have. Scientists are quickly refining the device to get optimal performance, which involves reducing the size, volume and amount of energy required by the system.

Data collection system inside NICER.

Then it will be time for SEXTANT to measure the rotation of distant planets, directing the spacecraft to the nearest or nearest star systems, to allow us to reach Mars.

"These tests show that X-ray crystallization orientation technology is an effective automatic navigation system , " said Jason Mitchell. "We have a more complete version of this system, which can increase people's ability to explore the universe, right in the Solar System and beyond".