Spacecraft and Instrument
The entire spacecraft rotates to provide the necessary signal modulation. The four, fixed solar panels are designed to provide enough gyroscopic moment to stabilize rotation about the solar vector. This largely eliminates the need for attitude control.
The instrument detectors are nine high-purity germanium crystals. Each is cooled to cryogenic temperatures by a mechanical cryocooler. Germanium provides not only detections by the photoelectric effect, but inherent spectroscopy through the charge deposition of the incoming ray. The crystals are housed in a cryostat, and mounted with low-conductivity straps.
A tubular telescope structure forms the bulk of the spacecraft. Its purpose is to hold the collimators above the Ge crystals at known, fixed positions.
Read more about this topic: Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager
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