SOFIA tracking subsystem: results of assembly, operation, and calibration tests

Hermann Bittner; Matthias Erdmann; Juergen Schmolke; Klaus Lattner; Torsten Levin; Markus Erhard

doi:10.1117/12.458639

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3 March 2003 SOFIA tracking subsystem: results of assembly, operation, and calibration tests

Hermann Bittner, Matthias Erdmann, Juergen Schmolke, Klaus Lattner, Torsten Levin, Markus Erhard

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Proceedings Volume 4857, Airborne Telescope Systems II; (2003) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.458639
Event: Astronomical Telescopes and Instrumentation, 2002, Waikoloa, Hawai'i, United States

Abstract

The SOFIA airborne telescope has a Tracking Subsystem for stellar acquisition, tracking, and pointing. The system has three high-performance imagers: the boresighted wide field (6 degrees FOV) and fine field imagers (70 arcminutes FOV), and the main-telescope-optics sharing focal plane imager (8 arcminutes FOV). The imagers are controlled by 3 CCD head controllers, an overall imager controller, and a tracker controller providing the tracking error signals from the objects observed by the imagers. There have been several test steps in the assembly, integration, and verification of the Tracking Subsystem. The paper presents the fully integrated system as actually built, the results of the thermal-vacuum and vibration tests of the fine field imager, the tested operational/functional S/W performance, as well as the results of the geometric and radiometric calibrations of the imagers.

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Hermann Bittner, Matthias Erdmann, Juergen Schmolke, Klaus Lattner, Torsten Levin, and Markus Erhard "SOFIA tracking subsystem: results of assembly, operation, and calibration tests", Proc. SPIE 4857, Airborne Telescope Systems II, (3 March 2003); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.458639

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