SPIDER

spider
Preparing SPIDER for launch in January 2015, at NASA/NSF's Long Duration Balloon Facility, Antarctica. Photo Credit: Bill Jones.

SPIDER is a balloon-borne CMB telescope that is searching for the B-mode linear polarization signal from cosmological gravitational waves. During its first flight in January 2015, SPIDER made maps of approximately 10% of the sky with degree-scale angular resolution in 95 and 150 GHz observing bands. The SPIDER payload features six monochromatic receivers housed in a shared cryostat. Each receiver includes a stepped half-wave plate (HWP) polarization modulator to reduce the potential impact of systematic errors due to beam asymmetries and instrument polarization. In 2017, Spider was upgraded with a suite of ~ 1500 285 GHz detectors.

A service of the HEASARC and of the Astrophysics Science Division at NASA/GSFC
Goddard Space Flight Center, National Aeronautics and Space Administration
HEASARC Director: Dr. Andrew F. Ptak
LAMBDA Director: Dr. Thomas M. Essinger-Hileman
NASA Official: Dr. Thomas M. Essinger-Hileman
Web Curator: Mr. Michael R. Greason