Balloon-borne Hard X-ray Imaging and Future Surveys

Several payloads for hard X-ray (20-600 keV) imaging with coded aperture telescopes have been developed for balloon flight observations of cosmic x-ray sources. We briefly review the characteristics of these, particularly the EXITE2 system. The recent NASA program to develop an extended long duration (100d) balloon flight capability employing super-pressure balloons would allow a qualitatively new hard x-ray imaging experiment: the Energetic X-ray Imaging Survey Telescope–Long Integration Time Experiment (EXIST-LITE). The longer continuous viewing times (per source) available from an LDB platform than from low earth orbit would enable both surveys and objectives complementary to the EXIST mission proposed for a MIDEX satellite. We summarize the scientific objectives of EXIST-LITE, a possible instrumentation approach incorporating a large area array of Cd-Zn-Te (CZT) detectors, and our program for the development and balloon flight testing of relatively thick (5mm) CZT detector arrays.