In terms of optical requirements and launch costs, large-diameter mirror should not only ensure fine surface accuracy, but also pursue high the rate of lightweight. Starting with material selection and shape design, the structure design of the 2 m mirror of a space remote sensor is carried out, and the preliminary mirror body is obtained. Then, combined with a platform of design optimization called Isight that integrated modeling software, finite element analysis software, data processing and analysis software, we optimized the key structural parameters of the mirror in detail, obtained a SiC mirror with the mass of 178 kg, its the rate of lightweight was as high as 90.9% and the RMS of surface shape accuracy under gravity deformation is 2.2 nm. On this basis, we designed and simulated the flexible support and other mirror components. The results indicated that the first-order natural frequency of the mirror components was 113.8 Hz, the RMS of surface shape accuracy was 8.1 nm under gravity deformation when the optical axis is horizontal, and 8.2 nm under the condition of 2°C temperature change, which were better than λ/60, could meet the requirement of the design index completely.
A Φ1400mm silicon carbide (SiC) mirror assembly was designed according to the requirement of the mass and the optical surface distortion. The parameters of the light-weighted open-back primary mirror were optimized by finite element analysis. Six flexure bipods were designed to support the mirror edge in 12 points evenly. 12 floating anti-gravity supports were used to Minimize the optical surface distortion caused by gravity effect to obtain the real optical surface during polishing. The mirror was precisely assembled with the bipods supports and the Carbon fiber reinforcement plastic (CFRP) chamber. The optical test with interferometer showed that the surface distortion was less than 0.03λ (λ=632nm) RMS with ±5°C temperature variation and 1g gravity condition, and the mass was 145kg, which coincided with the FEA results.
The Space-based multi-band astronomical Variable Objects Monitor (SVOM) project is a dedicated satellite developed at the cooperation of China and France, aim to make prompt multi-band observations of Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs), the afterglows and other high-energy transient astronomical events. The Visible Telescope (VT) is one of the four payloads onboard the SVOM. VT is designed to observe the afterglows of GRBs both in the visible and near infrared bands simultaneously. The telescope can reach a limiting magnitude of +22.5Mv and provide the redshift indicators for high-Z (z<4) GRBs. VT is also designed to measure the Relative Performance Errors (RPEs) for the satellite attitude and orbit control system (AOCS), aiming to improve the pointing stability of the platform during observation. VT adopts a Ritchey-Chrétien (RC) catadioptric optical configuration with a 440mm aperture and uses the dichroic prism before the focal plane to split the incident light into blue (visible) and red (near infrared) band. Two Fine Guidance Sensor (FGS) CCDs are mounted beside the main CCD on the blue band focal plane of VT and provide sub-arcsecond pixel resolution. Fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) composites is selected as the material of VT’s main structure to ensure enough stiffness and strength during launch. The electrical video processing circuit is carefully designed to make the readout noise below 6e-/pix (rms) in 100s exposure time. Active and passive thermal control are used together to ensure the optical performance and thermoelectric cooler (TEC) is adopted to control the main CCDs working temperature below -65°C to reduce the noise. This paper provides a comprehensive overview of the scientific requirements and the key instrument design aspects of optics, main structure, electrics, thermal control, performance test and validation results of VT.
The 470mm lightweight primary mirror of a space telescope is made of ULE, and supported on a titanium hexapod. The hexapod consists of six bond pads, six titanium struts with flexures and three support parts. The hexapod provides a quasi-kinematic mount for the lightweight mirror, and the flexures are used to isolate optical elements from the mechanical and thermal deformations of the support structure, then the surface figure distortion of the mirror is minimized. In this paper, the finite element method is used to analyze the static and dynamic characteristics of the mirror assembly. Then, six pads are bonded to the mirror and the support hexapod is assembly. The vertical optical test of the primary mirror assembly is implemented. Vibration test of the mirror assembly is performed, and the test results are consistent with the results of the finite element analysis.
In recent years, a novel optical zooming technique has been paid much attention. With the help of optical leveraging effect, it is possible to alter the system focal length dramatically without moving elements involved in by only changing the curvature radius of VCM (variable curvature mirror) slightly. With no doubt, VCM is the key to realize non-moving element optical zooming and it has to provide large enough saggitus variation while still maintaining the high surface figure accuracy to ensure high quality imaging. In our previously published paper, an annular force based VCM has been designed, fabricated and tested. Experiments demonstrate that with the aperture of 100mm and thickness of 2mm, the VCM could generate a large saggitus variation exceeding 30λ (λ=632.8nm). However, the optical quality degrades very fast and this makes such a VCM unsuitable for optical imaging in visible band. Therefore in this manuscript, a multipoint actuation array, which is composed of totally 49 piezoelectric actuators, is embedded into the annular structure to aim to correct the surface figure distortion caused by large saggitus variation. The new structure model has been designed and numerical simulation indicates that the surface figure distortion could be well corrected as long as the degraded surface figure accuracy is better than 1.8λ (λ=632.8nm) (RMS). Based on this, a new prototype VCM is being fabricated and intermediate results are reported here.
In this paper, a new type of lightweight passive deployment mechanism based on the tape spring and the shape memory alloy is presented for the secondary mirror of a deployable space telescope. In this passive deployment mechanism for the secondary mirror, the high elastic potential energy of the folded tape springs is used as driving force when the support structure is extended, and the high stiffness characteristics of the circular arc cross section of the tape spring can be used to achieve structure self-locking after deployment. Then a deployable space telescope combined with lightweight passive deployable mechanism for the secondary mirror is designed for applying to nanosatellite imaging. Furthermore, a lock-release device is designed to achieve the function of locking the folded structure and releasing on orbit by taking advantage of the phase transformation characteristics of shape memory alloy with temperature changing. Finally, the correction method for the deployment error of secondary mirror is discussed. The temperature of the tape springs is controlled respectively to make a required length change. This can achieve the purpose of adjusting the position of the secondary mirror and improve the deployment accuracy.
A Φ600mm SiC primary mirror subsystem of a space-borne Ritchey-Chretien telescope was designed. The open-back primary mirror was made of pressure-less sintering silicon carbide (SiC), light-weighted at a ratio of approximately 70%. Minimizing the optical surface astigmatism was critical for the mirror, the astigmatism is caused mainly by gravity effects, temperature variation and the bonding process. Three invar flexure bipods were fixed on the baseplate of the telescope at first, and the posture of the primary mirror was adjusted precisely for 0.2mm gap to the bipods. 3M 2216 B/A grey adhesive was then injected into the gap between the mirror and bipod flexure, the curing process was last 72 hours in the room temperature. So the mirror was affected only by curing stress of the adhesive during the assembly process. Structural strength and dynamic stiffness of the mirror subsystem in the thermal- structural coupling state were analyzed with finite element method. Analyzed results show that the optical surface distortion is less than 1/50λ at 632.8nm RMS with three points support and less than 1/200λ RMS with 2°C temperature variation because of the flexure support and compatible support and mirror material, The optical performance test with interferometer show that the optical surface distortion caused by the curing stress of the adhesive is less than 1/50λRMS, the overall optical surface of the primary mirror is less than 1/30λ rms, which met the critical requirements for the primary mirror of the telescope.
One space-based astronomy telescope will observe astronomy objects whose brightness should be lower than 23th magnitude. To ensure the telescope performance, very low system noise requirements need extreme low CCD operating temperature (lower than -65°C). Because the satellite will be launched in a low earth orbit, inevitable space external heat fluxes will result in a high radiator sink temperature (higher than -65°C). Only passive measures can’t meet the focal plane cooling specification and active cooling technologies must be utilized. Based on detailed analysis on thermal environment of the telescope and thermal characteristics of focal plane assembly (FPA), active cooling system which is based on thermo-electric cooler (TEC) and heat rejection system (HRS) which is based on flexible heat pipe and radiator have been designed. Power consumption of TECs is dependent on the heat pumped requirements and its hot side temperature. Heat rejection capability of HRS is mainly dependent on the radiator size and temperature. To compromise TEC power consumption and the radiator size requirement, thermal design of FPA must be optimized. Parasitic heat loads on the detector is minimized to reduce the heat pumped demands of TECs and its power consumption. Thermal resistance of heat rejection system is minimized to reject the heat dissipation of TECs from the hot side to the radiator efficiently. The size and surface coating of radiator are optimized to compromise heat reject ion requirements and system constraints. Based on above work, transient thermal analysis of FPA is performed. FPA prototype model has been developed and thermal vacuum/balance test has been accomplished. From the test, temperature of key parts and working parameters of TECs in extreme cases have been acquired. Test results show that CCD can be controlled below -65°C and all parts worked well during the test. All of these verified the thermal design of FPA and some lessons will be presented in this paper.
Recently, a new kind of optical zooming technique in which no moving elements are involved has been paid much attention. The elimination of moving elements makes optical zooming suitable for applications which has exacting requirements in space, power cost and system stability. The mobile phone and the space-borne camera are two typical examples. The key to realize non-moving elements optical zooming lies in the introduction of variable curvature mirror (VCM) whose radius of curvature could be changed dynamically. When VCM is about to be used to implement optical zoom imaging, two characteristics should be ensured. First, VCM has to provide large enough saggitus variation in order to obtain a big magnification ratio. Second, after the radius of curvature has been changed, the corresponding surface figure accuracy should still be maintained superior to a threshold level to make the high quality imaging possible. In this manuscript, based on the elasticity theory, the physical model of the annular force based variable curvature mirror is established and numerically analyzed. The results demonstrate that when the annular force is applied at the half-the-aperture position, the actuation force is reduced and a smaller actuation force is required to generate the saggitus variation and thus the maintenance of surface figure accuracy becomes easier during the variation of radius of curvature. Besides that, a prototype VCM, whose diameter and thickness are 100mm and 3mm respectively, have been fabricated and the maximum saggitus variation that could be obtained approaches more than 30 wavelengths. At the same time, the degradation of surface figure accuracy is weakly correlated to the curvature radius variation. Keywords: optical zooming; variable curvature mirror; surface figure accuracy; saggitus;
In recent years, optical zoom imaging without moving elements has received much attention. The key to realizing this technique lies in the design of the variable-curvature mirror (VCM). To obtain enough optical magnification, the VCM should be able to change its radius of curvature over a wide range. In other words, the VCM must be able to provide a large sagittal variation, which requires the mirror material to be robust during curvature variation, require little force to deform, and have high ultimate strength. Carbon-fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) satisfies all these requirements and is suitable for fabricating such a VCM. Therefore, in this research, a CFRP prototype VCM has been designed, fabricated, and tested. With a diameter of 100 mm, a thickness of 2 mm, and an initial radius of curvature of 1740 mm, this VCM can provide a maximum 23-μm sagittal variation and a minimum and maximum radius of curvature of 1705 and 1760 mm.
In recent years, how to eliminate moving elements while realizing optical zoom imaging has been paid much attention. Compared with the conventional optical zooming techniques, removing moving elements would bring in many benefits such as reduction in weight, volume and power cost and so on. The key to implement non-moving-element optical zooming lies in the design of variable curvature mirror (VCM). In order to obtain big enough optical magnification, the VCM should be capable of generating a large variation of saggitus. Hence, the mirror material should not be brittle, in other words the corresponding ultimate strength should be high enough to ensure that mirror surface would not be broken during large curvature variation. Besides that, the material should have a not too big Young’s modulus because in this case less force is required to generate a deformation. Among all available materials, for instance SiC, Zerodur and et.al, CFRP (carbon fiber reinforced polymer) satisfies all these requirements and many related research have proven this. In this paper, a CFRP VCM is designed, fabricated and tested. With a diameter of 100mm, a thickness of 2mm and an initial curvature radius of 1740mm, this component could change its curvature radius from 1705mm to 1760mm, which correspond to a saggitus variation of nearly 23μm. The work reported further proves the suitability of CFRP in constructing variable curvature mirror which could generate a large variation of saggitus.
Variable curvature mirror (VCM) is a simplified active optical component being capable of changing its curvature radius.
Curvature radius variation within a wide range requires that the VCM should be able to generate a large saggitus
variation. Besides that, the surface form accuracy should be maintained above a reasonable level. In this paper, a
piezoelectric actuation based prototype VCM is designed, constructed and experimentally tested. The thickness of the K9
plane mirror is only 3mm over the full aperture of 100mm. Six piezoelectric actuators are fixed into a base plate and the
head of each actuator is connected to an annular ring through the screw thread. With such a structure, the force provided
by each actuator can be transformed to the mirror backside through this annular ring. With each actuator generating the
same force, the curvature radius can be changed in a uniform way. At the mean time, the surface form accuracy could be
adjusted one point by point to compensation asymmetric modes as well. Mathematical analysis and FEA (finite element
analysis) are used together to demonstrate the theoretical correctness. Besides that, the prototype VCM is successfully
constructed and experiments have been carried out to give a quantitative assessment on the saggitus variation.
The key to realize non-moving-element optical zooming lies in VCM (variable curvature mirror). In order to obtain a large optical magnification, VCM should be capable of providing a large center deflection and this requires that the mirror material should be robust enough, require less force to deform and have a high ultimate strength. In this paper, CFRP (carbon-fiber-reinforced-polymer) is selected as the mirror material and a prototype VCM has been fabricated. With diameter of 100mm, thickness of 2mm and initial curvature radius of 1740mm, this VCM can provide a center deflection approaching nearly 23um, which proves the feasibility of CFRP in constructing VCM. Compared with the work reported in [Proc. of SPIE, 8725, 87250W, 2013], the center deflection obtained here becomes even larger.
Benefiting from low cost, light weight and reduced volume in launch, deployable optical telescopes will be extensively applied in microsatellites. As a result of manufactured tolerance and external disturbance, the secondary mirror can’t arrive at designed position precisely after a deployable telescope is unfolded. We investigate an adjustment system with six degrees of freedom based on hexapod structure to solve this problem. There are mainly four parts in this paper. Firstly, the adjustment methods of deployable telescopes for microsatellites are introduced. Generally several kinds of optical components can be adjusted to align a deployed telescope: primary mirror, tip/tilt mirror and secondary mirror. Due to its high sensitivity and convenience, the secondary mirror is chosen to collimate the optical system of the telescope. Secondly, an adjustment system with hexapod structure is designed for a secondary mirror with 85 mm diameter. After comparing the characteristics of step motors, piezo actuators and voice coil motors (VCMs), VCMs are selected as the linear actuators. By using optical gratings as displacement sensors in the system, we can make closed-loop control come true. The hexapod structure mainly consists of 6 VCMs, 6 optical gratings and 6 oblique legs with flexible hinges. The secondary mirror adjustment system is 83 mm in diameter and 55 mm high. It has tip/tilt rotational ranges of ±2.205° with resolution of better than ±0.007°, and translational ranges of ±1.545 mm with resolution of better than ±0.966 μm. Thirdly, the maximum stress and the maximum deformation in the adjustment system are computed with finite element method. At last, the kinematics problems of the adjustment system are discussed.
Based on optical zooming used to capture images with variable resolution and field of view (FOV), an all-reflective non-coaxial optical zooming system without moving elements is designed for space camera application. In this prototype design, a deformable mirror (DM) whose curvature radius can be changed is introduced. By carefully selecting the optical power of conventional reflective mirrors surrounding the DM, the overall focal length of the imaging system can be greatly changed with slight variation of curvature radius of DM. The focal length of the system can be changed from 48mm to 192mm and the system performance is approaching diffraction-limited with diverse criteria and the maximum stoke of DM is still within its physical limits at the same time. The experimental results prove the effectiveness of DM based optical zooming and will provide a new routine for new type of space camera design in the future.
A space telescope containing two CCD cameras is being built for scientific observation. The CCD detectors need to
operate at a temperature below -65°C in order to avoid unacceptable dark current. This cooling is achieved through
detailed thermal design which minimizes the parasitic load to 2K×4K array with 13.5 micron pixels and cools this
detector with a combination of thermo electric cooler(TEC).
This paper will describe detailed thermal design necessary to maintain the CCD at its cold operating temperature while
providing the means to reject the heat generated by the TECs. It will focus on optimized techniques developed to manage
parasitic loads including material selection, surface finishes and thermal insulation. The paper will also address analytical
techniques developed to characterize TEC performance. Finally, analysis results have been shown the temperature of key
parts.
In order to mount a space optical telescope with long focal length on a spacecraft for an astronomy observation mission,
a carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) hexapod with titanium alloy brackets was designed and fabricated. Each bracket
has a pair of heads and each head has two orthogonal flexures as virtual pivots without clearance to provide flexure
mounts. Because of no adjustment parts, slight differences among components and roughly assembly would result in
misalignment and asymmetrical stress in the hexapod. The stresses and strains of the CFRP hexapod structure under 1G
gravity load were analyzed with finite element method. In order to monitor the assembly stress and provide regulating
guidance, strain gauges were stuck centrally on the bottom flexures of each bracket. Comparing the measured strains
with the computed values, the low stress assembly of the CFRP hexapod has been accomplished successfully.
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