Astronomical Imaging Investigations for Shuttle and Spacelab Missions

George R. Carruthers; Theodore P. Stecher

doi:10.1117/12.959885

3 April 1981 Astronomical Imaging Investigations for Shuttle and Spacelab Missions

George R. Carruthers, Theodore P. Stecher

Proceedings Volume 0265, Shuttle Pointing of Electro-Optical Experiments; (1981) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.959885
Event: 1981 Los Angeles Technical Symposium, 1980, Los Angeles, United States

Abstract

This paper describes instrumentation for three astronomical investigations, planned or proposed for flight on Spacelab, which are concerned with moderate- to wide-field imagery of nonsolar astronomical objects. The first of these, the Goddard Space Flight Center's Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (UIT), is based on a current sounding rocket instrument and has been accepted by NASA for development and tentative flight on Spacelab in the 1984-1985 time period. It has a 40 arc minute field of view and better than 2 arc second angular resolution. The second instrument, which has been subjected to a feasibility study by NASA, is an all-reflecting Schmidt telescope which has a 5° field of view and 1 to 2 arc sec resolution. The third instrument, Starlab, is based on a 1-meter-aperture telescope and also has been through a definition study. It is proposed to be a multi-instrument astronomical facility which may be initially tested in Spacelab missions, but whose long-term operation will be based on use of a longer-duration space platform. One of the major scientific instruments planned for Starlab is a direct-imaging camera having 0.5° field of view and 0.2 arc sec resolution. Because of the differing fields of view and angular resolutions of these three instruments, their pointing requirements are somewhat different. Problem areas include alignment of the instruments with external startrackers and with other instruments on the same pointing platform. For Starlab, an internal image motion compensation system is necessary to provide the required ± 0.03 arc sec image stability.

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George R. Carruthers and Theodore P. Stecher "Astronomical Imaging Investigations for Shuttle and Spacelab Missions", Proc. SPIE 0265, Shuttle Pointing of Electro-Optical Experiments, (3 April 1981); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.959885

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KEYWORDS

Space telescopes

Sensors

Telescopes

Spatial resolution

Image intensifiers

Ultraviolet radiation

Galactic astronomy

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