Ground performance of the High-Energy Focusing Telescope (HEFT) attitude control system

Kurt S. Gunderson; C. M. Hubert Chen; Finn Erland Christensen; William W. Craig; Todd A. Decker; Charles James Hailey; Fiona A. Harrison; Ryan McLean; Ronald E. Wurtz; Klaus Ziock

doi:10.1117/12.513439

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3 February 2004 Ground performance of the High-Energy Focusing Telescope (HEFT) attitude control system

Kurt S. Gunderson, C. M. Hubert Chen, Finn Erland Christensen, William W. Craig, Todd A. Decker, Charles James Hailey, Fiona A. Harrison, Ryan McLean, Ronald E. Wurtz, Klaus Ziock

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Proceedings Volume 5165, X-Ray and Gamma-Ray Instrumentation for Astronomy XIII; (2004) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.513439
Event: Optical Science and Technology, SPIE's 48th Annual Meeting, 2003, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

The High Energy Focusing Telescope (HEFT) is a balloon-borne, hard x-ray/gamma ray (20-70 keV) astronomical experiment. HEFT's 10 arcminute field of view and 1 arcminute angular resolution place challenging demands on its attitude control system (ACS). A microprocessor-based ACS has been developed to manage target acquisition and sidereal tracking. The ACS consists of a variety of sensors and actuators, with provisions for 2-way ground communication, all controlled by an on-board computer. Ground based pointing performance measurements indicate 1σ jitter of 7" and gyro drift rates of <1" s^-1. Jitter is expected to worsen in the flight environment, but star tracker data are expected to reduce drift rates significantly, enabling a predicted 1σ absolute attitude determination of ≥4.7". HEFT is scheduled for flight in Spring 2004.

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Kurt S. Gunderson, C. M. Hubert Chen, Finn Erland Christensen, William W. Craig, Todd A. Decker, Charles James Hailey, Fiona A. Harrison, Ryan McLean, Ronald E. Wurtz, and Klaus Ziock "Ground performance of the High-Energy Focusing Telescope (HEFT) attitude control system", Proc. SPIE 5165, X-Ray and Gamma-Ray Instrumentation for Astronomy XIII, (3 February 2004); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.513439

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