Solar Flare X-ray Timing Investigation (SFXTI)

2022-2025 - Dr. John Sample

The overall goals of Montana State University’s Solar Flare X-ray Timing Investigation (SFXTI) mission are to reveal fast temporal variations in solar hard X-ray flux over a period of 12-months near the maximum of Solar Cycle 25 (with peak sunspot activity expected in 2025) at an unprecedented cadence revealing fine-scale details of solar particle acceleration during solar flares. SFXTI was installed in April, 2025 on the Starboard Overhead X-Direction (SOX) payload site of the Columbus module. The NASA EPSCoR payload was designed and built by undergraduate and graduate students mentored by professional engineering and science staff of MSU’s Space Science and Engineering Laboratory. For the SFXTI investigation, the students’ exposure to the very high-level requirements imposed on man-rated spaceflight is career enhancing. The opportunity for students to perform design and analysis of instruments, like SFXTI, flying on International Space Station provides the experiential training so important for their assimilation into the Aerospace Engineering/NASA workforce.