Calibration of the New Horizons Long-Range Reconnaissance Imager

F. Morgan; S. J. Conard; H. A. Weaver; O. Barnouin-Jha; A. F. Cheng; H. W. Taylor; K. A Cooper; R. H. Barkhouser; R. Boucarut; E. H. Darlington; M. P. Grey; I. Kuznetsov; T. J. Madison; M. A. Quijada; D. J. Sahnow; J. M. Stock

doi:10.1117/12.616880

22 September 2005 Calibration of the New Horizons Long-Range Reconnaissance Imager

F. Morgan, S. J. Conard, H. A. Weaver, O. Barnouin-Jha, A. F. Cheng, H. W. Taylor, K. A Cooper, R. H. Barkhouser, R. Boucarut, E. H. Darlington, M. P. Grey, I. Kuznetsov, T. J. Madison, M. A. Quijada, D. J. Sahnow, J. M. Stock

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 5906, Astrobiology and Planetary Missions; 59061E (2005) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.616880
Event: Optics and Photonics 2005, 2005, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

The LOng-Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) is a panchromatic imager for the New Horizons Pluto/Kuiper belt mission. New Horizons is being prepared for launch in January 2006 as the inaugural mission in NASA's New Frontiers program. This paper discusses the calibration and characterization of LORRI. LORRI consists of a Ritchey-Chretien telescope and CCD detector. It provides a narrow field of view (0.29°), high resolution (pixel FOV = 5 μrad) image at f/12.6 with a 20.8~cm diameter primary mirror. The image is acquired with a 1024 x 1024 pixel CCD detector (model CCD 47-20 from E2V). LORRI was calibrated in vacuum at three temperatures covering the extremes of its operating range (-100°C to +40°C for various parts of the system) and its predicted nominal temperature in-flight. A high pressure xenon arc lamp, selected for its solar-like spectrum, provided the light source for the calibration. The lamp was fiber-optically coupled into the vacuum chamber and monitored by a calibrated photodiode. Neutral density and bandpass filters controlled source intensity and provided measurements of the wavelength dependence of LORRI's performance. This paper will describe the calibration facility and design, as well as summarize the results on point spread function, flat field, radiometric response, detector noise, and focus stability over the operating temperature range. LORRI was designed and fabricated by a combined effort of The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) and SSG Precision Optronics. Calibration was conducted at the Diffraction Grating Evaluation Facility at NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center with additional characterization measurements at APL.

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F. Morgan, S. J. Conard, H. A. Weaver, O. Barnouin-Jha, A. F. Cheng, H. W. Taylor, K. A Cooper, R. H. Barkhouser, R. Boucarut, E. H. Darlington, M. P. Grey, I. Kuznetsov, T. J. Madison, M. A. Quijada, D. J. Sahnow, and J. M. Stock "Calibration of the New Horizons Long-Range Reconnaissance Imager", Proc. SPIE 5906, Astrobiology and Planetary Missions, 59061E (22 September 2005); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.616880

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