MAXIMA Documentation Overview

MAXIMA documentation overview is the connection to the web of notes, documents, and other material that provides documentation for MAXIMA. The design of the documentation web is such that it provides an interlocking description of the project starting at a high level, going to more and more detail, and points to hard copy material involving the MAXIMA documentation. The overall form is that of an outline with deeper and deeper levels.

The MAXIMA Science provides background information on the anisotropy of the cosmic microwave background and on infrared emission from Galactic and extragalactic sources.

MAXIMA Instrumentation

is a description of the balloon-borne gondola and supporting instrumentation.

Gondola provides information of the mechanical aspects of the gondola.
Attitude Control System is the hardware and software system that orients the gondola and provides control of the pointing
Optics describes the optics of MAXIMA.
Receiver documents the MAXIMA receiver and associated electronics
Telemetry discusses the data acquisition system (DAS), telemetry system, and ground station.

MAXIMA Software

Design Software is used to design the MAXIMA experiment.
Testing Software is used to test the MAXIMA instrument.
Flight Planning software is used to design the flight data taking operations.
Flight software is that used aboard the gondola and on the ground during flight.
Processing Software takes the flight data and prepares it for analysis by removing the instrument and cosmic ray signatures and calibrating the data.
Analysis Software is used to analyze the processed data.
Interpretation Software is used to interpret the analyzed and the processed data.
Utility Software provides an overview of the software used for characterizing, calibrating, and understanding the experiment and other special purposes.

MAXIMA Operations

Shipping covers the logistics of shipping the MAXIMA experiment from Berkeley to a launch site such as Palestine, Texas.
Launch Operations are the events on flight day leading to the launch of the MAXIMA experiment.
Flight Operations are the events occuring during the flight of the MAXIMA instrument.
Recovery is the procedure beginning with the end of the flight to the return of the instrument to the flight base.
Debriefing is the set of procedures for checking and testing the MAXIMA instrument after flight recovery and before shipping back to Berkeley.

This overview page prepared and maintained by George Smoot

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