ARRAKIHS is an ESA mission dedicated to observing dwarf galaxies and stellar streams. Its objective will be to test the standard cosmological model, particularly regarding the nature of dark matter. It will use four telescopes operating in the visible and near infrared spectral ranges. As they will observe ultra-low brightness objects, an extreme level of stray light control is necessary. A large external baffle is necessary to prevent out-of-field light from entering the telescope, with an extreme stray light rejection down to 10-11. This paper will discuss the design of this baffle. We will present the design trade-offs, as different possible baffle architectures were considered. Ultimately, the selected architecture consists in developing one baffle for two telescopes, hence a total of two baffles are used on the payload. A multi-stage baffle is developed, in the heritage of the CoRoT baffle which is seen as one of the best ever designed. Moreover, we will discuss the reflections on the test setup which will be implemented for validating the design on a prototype.
LiteBIRD is a future satellite mission designed to polarization-sensitive mapping of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) anisotropies required to test the theory of cosmological inflation. The standard procedure of the on-ground characterization and calibration of the LiteBIRD Med- and High Frequency Telescopes (MHFT) requires the use a cryogenic reference unit, called also ‘SKYLOAD’, compatible with the vacuum environment.
In this paper, we present one possible baseline design of such SKYLOAD, proposed and currently under development by our research group. The SKYLOAD is composed from anechoic panels, which consist of a planar impedance substrate and a structured layer involving an anechoic cone array with a honeycomb arrangement. Both structured layer and planar impedance substrates should be made of a microwave absorbing polymer, compatible with vacuum cryogenic environment. The SKYLOAD is cooled down by liquid helium to 2 K. Accordingly, in our work, we address also key issues related to no-thermal cracking conditions, as well as the deterioration of the performance of the SKYLOAD assembled from anechoic panels due to their thermal shrinkage when cooling to cryogenic temperatures. Finally, an original manufacturing method of the proposed anechoic panels, involving polymer casting, is currently under consideration.
The Comet Interceptor mission was selected by ESA in June 2019 as ESA's new fast-class mission in its Cosmic Vision Programme. Comprising three spacecraft, it will be the first to visit a Long Period Comet (LPC) or even an interstellar object that is only just starting its journey into the inner Solar System. The RMA, under CSL responsibility, is a mechanism rotating a mirror which ensures that the comet is kept within the FoV of the CoCa instrument during the closest part of the approach. The RMA is composed of the Scanning Mirror Assembly (SMA), including a protection baffle, and the associated electronics (SME). The technical role of CSL is to design, develop, build and verify the SMA to be finally delivered to ESA as part of the RMA. This paper introduces the current activities on the RMA development with a deeper insight on the design steps and the preliminary results of the performed breadboard tests (mechanism actuation and coating impact tests). Additional presentation content can be accessed on the supplemental content page.
LiteBIRD is the next-generation space mission for polarization-sensitive mapping of the Cosmic Microwave Background anisotropies, with observations covering the full sky in a wide frequency range (34-448 GHz) to ensure high-precision removal of polarized foregrounds. Its main goal is to constrain the contribution of primordial gravitational waves to the curly component of the CMB polarization pattern. The LiteBIRD Medium and High Frequency Telescope (MHFT) will observe the sky in the 89-448 GHz band. Its optical configuration features two separate dual-lens assemblies with 300mm and 200mm apertures, 28° fields of view and diffraction-limited imaging over the whole spectral range. Polarization modulation is achieved through the continuous spinning of a half-wave plate at the optical entrance of each system. The optical studies for MHFT focus on a refined modeling of the telescope elements (lenses, anti-reflection coatings, absorbers, interfaces) to assess their individual effects on the predicted optical behavior of the telescopes. Such studies will provide key inputs for end-to-end simulations and will inform the subsystem and system-level characterization to meet the stringent requirements set for the LiteBIRD success. We describe the progress in MHFT optical modeling and the ongoing efforts to reproduce full Medium Frequency Telescope (MFT) and High Frequency Telescope (HFT) beams for representative focal plane pixels down to the far-sidelobe angular region. Here, systematic effects due to challenging beam measurements and higher order optical coupling between the telescope and the surrounding structures are likely to affect the final level and shape of the beams and thus set compelling requirements for in-flight calibration and beam reconstruction.
KEYWORDS: Bolometers, Sensors, Polarization, Polarimetry, Silicon, Space observatories, Mirrors, Magnetism, Semiconductors, Picture Archiving and Communication System
We present the B-BOP instrument, a polarimetric camera on board the future ESA-JAXA SPICA far-infrared space observatory. B-BOP will allow the study of the magnetic field in various astrophysical environments thanks to its unprecedented ability to measure the linear polarization of the submillimeter light. The maps produced by B-BOP will contain not only information on total power, but also on the degree and the angle of polarization, simultaneously in three spectral bands (70, 200 and 350 microns). The B-BOP detectors are ultra-sensitive silicon bolometers that are intrinsically sensitive to polarization. Their NEP is close to 10E-18 W/sqrt(Hz). We will present the optical and thermal architectures of the instrument, we will detail the bolometer design and we will show the expected performances of the instrument based on preliminary lab work.
An in-orbit calibration assembly is designed and tested to ensure the radiometric accuracy of Sentinel-4/UVN. One of the calibration method consists in measuring the Sun’s irradiance through a diffuser. A major challenge was the apparition of so-called spectral features, which come from speckle patterns due to the thin spectral bands of the instrument. A stack of diffuser was built to increase the average optical path difference above coherence length, thus decreasing the speckle contrast. A unique spectral feature test bench has been developed to validate the performance. A second calibration approach consists in illuminating the instrument with a white light source whose drift is characterized and limited. This paper discusses the design of the calibration assembly and the challenge which were encountered in the process. Also, on-ground tests results are presented, including the description of the test setup, in particular the spectral feature test bench.
The COROT mission is part of the program "mini-satellite" of CNES (French space agency). It implies international cooperation between European institutes and research centres. COROT aims to perform astroseismology observations and to detect exoplanets. Long duration observations of stars will be used to detect periodic variations with an afocal telescope followed by a dioptric objective and 4 CCDs. These very small variations can be caused by star seismic activities (about 10-6 variation of signal) or transits of planets (few 10-4 variation of signal).
Due to the orbit of the spacecraft (low altitude polar orbit) and even if the observations are performed in a direction perpendicular to orbit plane, the measurements can be disturbed by the straylight reflected by the earth (albedo) that can generate a periodic perturbation.
The paper details the overall optical design of the baffle. The baffle modelling and straylight computation methods are described and the expected performances are discussed.
The CHaracterising ExOPlanet Satellite (CHEOPS) is a joint ESA-Switzerland space mission dedicated to search for exoplanet transits by means of ultra-high precision photometry whose launch readiness is expected end 2017. The CHEOPS instrument will be the first space telescope dedicated to search for transits on bright stars already known to host planets. By being able to point at nearly any location on the sky, it will provide the unique capability of determining accurate radii for a subset of those planets for which the mass has already been estimated from ground-based spectroscopic surveys. CHEOPS will also provide precision radii for new planets discovered by the next generation ground-based transits surveys (Neptune-size and smaller). The main science goals of the CHEOPS mission will be to study the structure of exoplanets with radii typically ranging from 1 to 6 Earth radii orbiting bright stars. With an accurate knowledge of masses and radii for an unprecedented sample of planets, CHEOPS will set new constraints on the structure and hence on the formation and evolution of planets in this mass range. To reach its goals CHEOPS will measure photometric signals with a precision of 20 ppm in 6 hours of integration time for a 9th magnitude star. This corresponds to a signal to noise of 5 for a transit of an Earth-sized planet orbiting a solar-sized star (0.9 solar radii). This precision will be achieved by using a single frame-transfer backside illuminated CCD detector cool down at 233K and stabilized within ~10 mK . The CHEOPS optical design is based on a Ritchey-Chretien style telescope with 300 mm effective aperture diameter, which provides a defocussed image of the target star while minimizing straylight using a dedicated field stop and baffle system. As CHEOPS will be in a LEO orbit, straylight suppression is a key point to allow the observation of faint stars. The telescope will be the only payload on a spacecraft platform providing pointing stability of < 8 arcsec rms, power of 60W for instrument operations and downlink transmission of at least 1.2GBit/day. Both CHEOPS paylaod and platform will rely mainly on components with flight heritage. The baseline CHEOPS mission fits within the technical readiness requirements, short development time and the cost envelope defined by ESA in its first call for S-missions. It represents a breakthrough opportunity in furthering our understanding of the formation and evolution of planetary systems.
The Sentinel-4 mission (S4) is part of the Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) initiative and covers the needs for continuous monitoring of Earth atmospheric composition and air pollution [1].
CHEOPS (CHaracterising ExOPlanet Satellite) is the first ESA Small Mission as part of the ESA Cosmic Vision program 2015-2025 and it is planned launch readiness end of 2017.
The mission lead is performed in a partnership between Switzerland, led by the University of Bern, and the European Space Agency with important contributions from Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.
The CHEOPS mission will be the first space telescope dedicated to search for exoplanetary transits on bright stars already known to host planets by performing ultrahigh precision photometry on bright starts whose mass has been already estimated through spectroscopic surveys on ground based observations.
The number of exoplanets in the mass range 1-30 MEarth for which both mass and radius are known with a good precision is extremely limited also considering the last two decades of high-precision radial velocity measurement campaigns and the highly successful space missions dedicated to exoplanets transit searches (CoRoT and Kepler).
KEYWORDS: Space telescopes, Planets, Telescopes, Charge-coupled devices, Stars, Space operations, Sensors, Scanning electron microscopy, Point spread functions, Electronics
CHEOPS (CHaracterizing ExOPlanets Satellite) is the first ESA Small Mission as part of the ESA Cosmic Vision program 2015-2025. The mission was formally adopted in early February 2014 with a planned launch readiness end of 2017. The mission lead is performed in a partnership between Switzerland, led by the University of Bern, and the European Space Agency with important contributions from Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. The mission is dedicated to searching for exoplanetary transits by performing ultrahigh precision photometry on bright starts already known to host planets whose mass has been already estimated through ground based observations. The instrument is an optical Ritchey-Chretien telescope of 30 cm clear aperture using a single CCD detector. The optical system is designed to image a de-focused PSF onto the focal plane with very stringent stability and straylight rejection requirements providing a FoV of 0.32 degrees full cone. The system design is adapted to meet the top-level science requirements, which ask for a photometric precision of 20ppm, in 6 hours integration time, on transit measurements of G5 dwarf stars with V-band magnitudes in the range 6≤V≤9 mag. Additionally they ask for a photometric precision of 85 ppm in 3 hours integration time of Neptune-size planets transiting K-type dwarf stars with V-band magnitudes as faint as V=12 mag. Given the demanding schedule and cost constrains, the mission relies mostly on components with flight heritage for the platform as well as for the payload components. Nevertheless, several new developments are integrated into the design as for example the telescope structure and the very low noise, high stability CCD front end electronics. The instrument and mission have gone through critical design review in fall 2015 / spring 2016. This paper describes the current instrument and mission design with a focus on the instrument. It outlines the technical challenges and selected design implementation. Based on the current status, the instrument noise budget is presented including the current best estimate for instrument performance. The current instrument design meets the science requirements and mass and power margins are adequate for the current development status.
PROBA-3 is a mission devoted to the in-orbit demonstration of precise formation flying techniques and technologies for future ESA missions. PROBA-3 will fly ASPIICS (Association de Satellites pour l’Imagerie et l’Interferométrie de la Couronne Solaire) as primary payload, which makes use of the formation flying technique to form a giant coronagraph capable of producing a nearly perfect eclipse allowing to observe the sun corona closer to the rim than ever before. The coronagraph is distributed over two satellites flying in formation (approx. 150m apart). The so called Coronagraph Satellite carries the camera and the so called Occulter Satellite carries the sun occulter disc. This paper is reviewing the design and evolution of the ASPIICS instrument as at the beginning of Phase C/D.
PROBA-3 is a technology mission of the European Space Agency (ESA), devoted to the in-orbit demonstration of
formation flying techniques and technologies. Presently in phase B, PROBA-3 will implement a coronagraph (called
ASPIICS, “Association de Satellites Pour l'Imagerie et l'Interferometrie de la Couronne Solaire”) that will both
demonstrate and exploit the capabilities and performance of formation flying. ASPIICS is distributed on two spacecrafts
separated by 140m with the external occulting disk hosted by one spacecraft and the telescope (optical camera included)
on the other one. ASPIICS will perform high spatial resolution imaging of the solar corona from the coronal base (1.04
solar radii) out to 3 solar radii. ASPIICS is developed by a large consortium of European Institutes and Industries from
Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg and Russia. The design studies concern the
external occulter mounted on one satellite and the telescope on the other one but also the additional metrology tools that
will help checking the formation and ensure that the flight configuration is optimal for observations. PROBA-3/ASPIICS
successfully passed the Preliminary Design Review (PDR) in April 2013 and is currently in the implementation phase
C/D. The present paper will provide the current status of PROBA-3/ASPIICS, a description of the instrument and its
expected performance.
The JWST Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) is designed to meet the JWST science requirements for mid-IR capabilities
and includes an Imager MIRIM provided by CEA (France). A double-prism assembly (DPA) allows MIRIM to perform
low-resolution spectroscopy. The MIRIM DPA shall meet a number of challenging requirements in terms of optical and
mechanical constraints, especially severe optical tolerances, limited envelope and very high vibration loads.
The University of Cologne (Germany) and the Centre Spatial de Liege (Belgium) are responsible for design,
manufacturing, integration, and testing of the prism assembly. A companion paper (Fischer et al. 2008) is presenting the
science drivers and mechanical design of the DPA, while this paper is focusing on optical manufacturing and overall
verification processes.
The first part of this paper describes the manufacturing of Zinc-sulphide and Germanium prisms and techniques to ensure
an accurate positioning of the prisms in their holder. (1) The delicate manufacturing of Ge and ZnS materials and (2) the
severe specifications on the bearing and optical surfaces flatness and the tolerance on the prism optical angles make this
process innovating. The specifications verification is carried out using mechanical and optical measurements; the
implemented techniques are described in this paper.
The second part concerns the qualification program of the double-prism assembly, including the prisms, the holder and
the prisms anti-reflective coatings qualification. Both predictions and actual test results are shown.
The Photodetector Array Camera and Spectrometer (PACS), on board the Herschel Space Observatory, is designed for
imaging and low and medium resolution spectroscopy in the wavelength region between 57 and 210 μm. This paper
reports the design and the testing results of the grating cryogenic mechanism of the PACS spectrometer. The PACS
diffraction grating is made from an aluminium substrate, mechanically ruled with a periodicity of 8.5 grooves per mm
and gold coated for optimum reflectivity at PACS operating wavelengths. The grating mechanism is capable of accurate
positioning (4") of the flat diffraction grating within a large angular throw (44°) in cryogenic environment (4.2 K).
Technologies of actuators, position sensors, bearings, servo-control and cryogenic test set-up are presented. The grating
mechanism was thoroughly tested, alone and when integrated in the PACS Focal Plane Unit (FPU). The tests were
performed in cryogenic conditions, in a set-up fully representative of the flight conditions. Actual mechanical and
optical performance obtained with the Flight Model (FM) is presented in detail. Quality of the angular positioning of the
mechanism, spectral resolution and optical quality of the grating are analysed.
The present paper describes the different steps leading to the Flight Model integration of the Mid-Infra Red IMager
Optical Bench MIRIM-OB which is part of the scientific payload of the JWST. In order to demonstrate a space
instrument capability to survive the challenging space environment and deliver the expected scientific data, a specific
development approach is applied in order to reduce the high level of risks. The global approach for MIRIM-OB, and the
principal results associated to the two main models, the Structural Qualification Model for vibration and the Engineering
and Test Model for optical performance measured in the infra red at cryogenic temperature will be described in this
paper.
We present how it is achieved to mount a double prism in the filter wheel of MIRIM - the imager of JWST's Mid
Infrared Instrument. In order to cope with the extreme conditions of the prisms' surroundings, the low resolution
double prism assembly (LRSDPA) design makes high demands on manufacturing accuracy. The design and the
manufacturing of the mechanical parts are presented here, while 'Manufacturing and verification of ZnS and Ge
prisms for the JWST MIRI imager' are described in a second paper [1]. We also give insights on the astronomical
possibilities of a sensitive MIR spectrometer. Low resolution prism spectroscopy in the wavelength range from
5-10 microns will allow to spectroscopically determine redshifts of objects close to/at the re-ionization phase of
the universe.
One of the most critical units of nulling interferometers is the Achromatic Phase Shifter. The concept we propose
here is based on optimized Fresnel rhombs, using the total internal reflection phenomenon, modulated or not.
The total internal reflection induces a phase shift between the polarization components of the incident light.
We present the principles, the current status of the prototype manufacturing and testing operations, as well as
preliminary experiments on a ZnSe Fresnel rhomb in the visible that have led to a first error source assessment
study. Thanks to these first experimental results using a simple polarimeter arrangement, we have identified the
bulk scattering as being the main error source. Fortunately, we have experimentally verified that the scattering
can be mitigated using spatial filters and does not decrease the phase shifting capabilities of the ZnSe Fresnel
rhomb.
The COROT mission is part of the program "Petites Missions" of CNES (French space agency). It implies international cooperation between France, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Spain and the European Space Agency (ESA). COROT aims to perform astroseismology measurements and to detect exoplanets. Long duration observations of stars will be used to detect periodic variations with an afocal telescope followed by a dioptric objective and 4 CCDs.
Due to the orbit of the spacecraft (low altitude polar orbit) and even if the observation are performed in a direction perpendicular to orbit plane, the measurements can be disturbed by the straylight reflected on the earth (albedo) that can generate periodic perturbation.
CSL is in charge of the design and procurement, with the help of Belgian industries, of a baffle and its protective cover that will be mounted on top of the afocal entrance telescope. The requirements are very stringent from the optical point of view as well as from the mechanical point of view.
The rejection of the baffle must be of the order of 1013 for field angles above 20 degrees while the allocated mass is 19 kilograms.
The Optical Monitoring Camera (OMC) is a part of the scientific payload being developed for the ESA INTEGRAL mission, scheduled to be launched in 2001. The OMC is a imager that will monitor star variations in the V-band in a 5 X 5 degree(s) field of view. This paper describes the acceptance tests for 3 sub-systems of OMC: the optical system, the baffle and the cover system.
The Optical Monitor Camera (OMC) is a part of the scientific payload of the INTEGRAL spacecraft, scheduled to be launched in 2001. The OMC is an imager that will monitor star variations in the V-band in a 5 X 5 degree field of view. It is required that the instrument detects object of plus 19.7 magnitude within the FOV. This requires highly sophisticated baffling techniques to provide attenuation up to 10-45. To obtain such performances, the design of each sub-element is optimized to fulfill very stringent stray-light requirements. The stray-light sources are discussed and performances are simulated with a 3D ray-tracing model.
The Optical Monitor Camera (OMC) is a part of the scientific payload being developed for the INTEGRAL mission, scheduled to be launched in 2001. The OMC is an imager that will monitor star variations in the V-band in a 5 X 5 degree field of view. An optical system based on 6 lenses has been developed in order to meet the optical requirements in specific environmental conditions. The concept of the optical system and the optical performances are discussed in this paper. The optical design was mainly driven by the high radiation levels and the very wide temperature range of the instrument. The system has been optimized with specific constrains: limited radiation resistant glasses availability and lens barrel material. The filter section is designed in order to improve the optical performances and to withstand the high radiation environment. Great care is taken for the tolerance analysis that is a key factor for the manufacturing process. Specific stray light analyses including ghost effects are included in the optical design.
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