Verification of the Timing System for the X-ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission in the GPS Unsynchronized Mode

TL;DR

This paper verifies the XRISM satellite's timing system in GPS unsynchronized mode through ground and on-orbit tests, confirming it meets the accuracy requirements despite temperature-induced clock frequency variations.

Contribution

It provides the first comprehensive validation of the XRISM timing system in GPS unsynchronized mode, including thermal effects and on-orbit performance analysis.

Findings

Timing accuracy within 350 μs requirement confirmed

Temperature-induced clock frequency variations modeled successfully

On-orbit tests validated ground-based thermal predictions

Abstract

We report the results from the ground and on-orbit verifications of the XRISM timing system when the satellite clock is not synchronized to the GPS time. In this case, the time is determined by a free-run quartz oscillator of the clock, whose frequency changes depending on its temperature. In the thermal vacuum test performed in 2022, we obtained the GPS unsynchronized mode data and the temperature-versus-clock frequency trend. Comparing the time values calculated from the data and the true GPS times when the data were obtained, we confirmed that the requirement (within a 350 $\mu$s error in the absolute time, accounting for both the spacecraft bus system and the ground system) was satisfied in the temperature conditions of the thermal vacuum test. We also simulated the variation of the timing accuracy in the on-orbit temperature conditions using the Hitomi on-orbit temperature data and found that the error remained within the requirement over $\sim 3 \times 10^{5}$ s. The on-orbit tests were conducted in 2023 September and October as part of the bus system checkout. The temperature versus clock frequency trend remained unchanged from that obtained in the thermal vacuum test and the observed time drift was consistent with that expected from the trend.