A view of the Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) X-ray Timing Instrument without its protective blanketing shows a collection of 56 close-packed sunshades—the white and black cylinders in the foreground—that protect the X-ray optics, as well as some of the 56 X-ray detector enclosures, on the gold-colored plate, onto which X-rays from the sky are focused.

NICER, an upcoming NASA astrophysics mission, will uncover the physics governing the ultra-dense interiors of neutron stars. Using the same platform, the mission will demonstrate trailblazing space navigation technology.

(Image Credit: NASA/Keith Gendreau)