NASA NICER scale model

thingiverse

Here is a scale model of the Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) instrument. It was designed over 4 Summers by Mechanical Engineering students working on the NICER team between 2013 and 2016. A 10% scale "thing" file shows the stowed configuration of the instrument and how all of the individual pieces come together. All parts can be printed on a Makerbot Replicator sized printer (~6x6x8" build volume). The Tuned Mass Dampers (TMDs) and GPS antennas are located to the side. The deployed image identifies the locations of those components. The individual .stl files are also included but are at 5% scale for larger printers (such as the Makerbot Z18). Below is a description of NICER: NASA’s Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer, or NICER, mission is an International Space Station payload that is providing high-precision measurements of neutron stars – objects containing ultra-dense matter at the threshold of collapse into black holes. NICER is also testing — for the first time in space — technology that relies on pulsars as navigation beacons. The technique may eventually guide human exploration to the distant reaches of the solar system and beyond. Although NICER’s standalone research offers definitive improvements to existing scientific understanding, NICER’s data will have significant synergy with existing and future missions that can further expand our understanding of the universe. NICER launched June 3, 2017, from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida aboard the SpaceX-11 ISS Commercial Resupply Services flight. It was installed on the space station later that month. It deployed on June 15th and has been hard at work probing the densest matter in the universe ever since! https://www.nasa.gov/nicer Awesome NICER videos: https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=8&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwiJwb6i88rhAhXPxFkKHaZOABwQwqsBMAd6BAgGEAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3Dkk0ry3_R2pE&usg=AOvVaw1FNjv5vF9-QLxqq1BgcHjp https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=9&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwiJwb6i88rhAhXPxFkKHaZOABwQwqsBMAh6BAgGEAc&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D9cIzBgYQBws&usg=AOvVaw2l2j1IA7ikXXle2hD39p1t https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=10&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwiJwb6i88rhAhXPxFkKHaZOABwQwqsBMAl6BAgGEAo&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DT8kJwGDwONo&usg=AOvVaw3NE3u0zJtx4pFRT2XC7-mL https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=11&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwiJwb6i88rhAhXPxFkKHaZOABwQwqsBMAp6BAgGEA0&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DMTJXnmIBhlc&usg=AOvVaw1-HRbdI1sL1V9dzpKWPPmL