NASA NICER scale model

thingiverse

Here is a scale model of the Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) instrument. Designed over four summers by Mechanical Engineering students working on the NICER team between 2013 and 2016, it showcases their remarkable craftsmanship. A 10% scale "thing" file illustrates the stowed configuration of the instrument, demonstrating how all its individual components come together seamlessly. All parts can be printed on a Makerbot Replicator-sized printer with a build volume of approximately six by six by eight inches. The Tuned Mass Dampers (TMDs) and GPS antennas are strategically located to the side, as evident from the deployed image. The included .stl files are also available at 5% scale for larger printers, such as the Makerbot Z18, ensuring that everyone can bring this incredible project to life. Below is a detailed description of NICER: NASA's Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer, or NICER, mission is an International Space Station payload that provides high-precision measurements of neutron stars – objects containing ultra-dense matter at the threshold of collapse into black holes. NICER is also pioneering technology that relies on pulsars as navigation beacons in space for the very first time. This groundbreaking technique may eventually guide human exploration to the farthest reaches of our solar system and beyond. While NICER's standalone research offers significant improvements to existing scientific understanding, its data will have substantial synergy with existing and future missions, further expanding our knowledge of the universe. NICER launched on June 3, 2017, from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida aboard the SpaceX-11 ISS Commercial Resupply Services flight. It was successfully installed on the space station later that month. On June 15th, it deployed and has been actively probing the densest matter in the universe ever since. For more information, visit https://www.nasa.gov/nicer To see NICER in action, check out these awesome videos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kk0ry3_R2pE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cIzBgYQBws https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8kJwGDwONo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTJXnmIBhlc