METimage is an advanced multispectral radiometer for weather and climate forecasting developed by Airbus Defence & Space under the auspices of the German Space Administration (DLR) for the EUMETSAT Polar System-Second Generation (EPS-SG). The instrument is equipped with a continuously rotating scan mirror with a 1.7s period followed by a static telescope. The scan mirror permits an extended Earth view of 108° per revolution and regular views to on-board calibration sources. A derotator assembly, which is half-speed synchronised with the scanner, is inserted in the optical beam after the telescope to compensate the image rotation in the focal plane. The derotator optical arrangement is a five-mirror concept that minimises the polarisation sensitivity. The derotator design is constrained by optical performance, mass and compactness, which led to the selection of a full silicon carbide (SiC) concept. The stringent alignment requirements of the derotator optics lead to an excellent pointing accuracy, confirmed by the measurements performed with a dedicated OGSE. The measured wavefront error of the system is very small, thanks to fine polishing of the five optics. In this paper, we will present the overall design of the derotator, discuss the manufacturing of the key SiC elements and present the results of the FM1 test campaign.
To be launched in 2022, MicroCarb is a space mission project of the French Space Agency (CNES) that will measure the exchange of carbon dioxide present in the Earth's atmosphere over all regions of the globe, particularly in areas poorly covered by terrestrial instrumentation. It will be the first European mission entirely dedicated to CO2 measurement. Airbus Defence and Space has been selected by CNES to design, develop and qualify the MicroCarb instrument able to monitor very precisely CO2 concentrations, with an accuracy better than 1 part per million. It is an infrared passive spectrometer operating in four spectral bands and including a unique imaging channel. To meet the need for unprecedented stability, Airbus Defence and Space turned to a full-SiC solution for the mirrors and the structural elements of the instrument. These optics are embarked on the Myriades microsat platform which allocates them a low volume. This led the designers to squeeze the instruments into a compact volume and thus to design complex three-dimensional structures and also to implement mirrors of high freeform amplitudes. The present paper presents the manufacturing approach for such highly complex silicon carbide (SiC) parts, especially the grinding of complex interfaces and very precise freeform mirror blanks ready for polishing.
METimage is an advanced multispectral radiometer for weather and climate forecasting developed by Airbus Defence & Space under the auspices of the German Space Administration (DLR) for the EUMETSAT Polar System –Second Generation (EPS-SG). The instrument is equipped with a continuously rotating scan mirror with a 1.7s period followed by a static telescope. The scan mirror permits an extended Earth view of 108° per revolution and regular views to on-board calibration sources. A derotator assembly, which is half-speed synchronised with the scanner, is inserted in the optical beam after the telescope to compensate the image rotation in the focal plane. The derotator optical arrangement is a fivemirror concept that minimises the polarisation sensitivity. The derotator design is constrained by optical performance, mass and compactness, which led to the selection of a full silicon carbide (SiC) concept. This paper is presented as a continuation of the ICSO 2018 paper to describe the detailed design and early physical model results of the derotator optics.
The ELT is a project led by the European Southern Observatory (ESO) for a 40-m class optical, near- and mid-infrared, ground-based telescope. When it will enter into operation, the ESO ELT will be the largest and most powerful optical telescope ever built. It will not only offer unrivalled light collecting power, but also exceedingly sharp images, thanks to its ability to compensate for the adverse effect of atmospheric turbulence on image sharpness. The basic optical solution for the ESO ELT is a folded three-mirror anastigmat, using a 39-m segmented primary mirror (M1), a 4-m convex secondary mirror (M2), and a 4-m concave tertiary mirror (M3), all active. Folding is provided by two additional flat mirrors sending the beams to either Nasmyth foci along the elevation axis of the telescope. The folding arrangement (flat M4 and M5 mirrors) is conceived to provide conveniently located flat surfaces for an adaptive shell (M4) and field stabilization (M5). The M5 Mirror and M5 Cell contracts started in 2019. Both sub-units are currently designed by the selected contractors. While the cell is still in an early design phase, the mirror design is in the final phase and the manufacturing of the blank has already started. With the focus on the M5 mirror, we flow down the key requirements to the cell and the mirror and highlight the main characteristics of the current design, discussing the challenges of mirror manufacturing. Finally, we conclude with the current status and an overview of the coming milestones.
Euclid is a part of the European Space Agency Cosmic Vision Medium Class program. This mission’s goal is to investigate the nature of dark energy, dark matter and gravity by observing the geometry of the Universe and the formation of structures over cosmological timescales.
Euclid Payload Module (PLM) includes a large three mirrors anastigmatic Korsch telescope feeding a visible imager (VIS) and a near-infrared spectrometer and photometer (NISP). The hardware of all of them will be mainly made of Boostec® SiC material.
The SiC telescope has been designed by Airbus Defence and Space team in Toulouse (France).
The PLM is divided in two cavities which are separated and hold by a very large SiC baseplate; the front one includes the primary and secondary mirrors and the associated support structure while the back one consists of the telescope folding mirrors, the tertiary mirror, the two instruments (VIS and NISP) and other optical devices. The focal length is 24.5 m and the useful pupil diameter is 1.2 m. A passive thermal concept has been developed, thus requiring minimum heating power and providing best thermal stability. The telescope will operate at ≈130 K.
In addition to its high thermal conductivity, the Boostec® SiC has been chosen for its mechanical properties and its ability to greatly reduce mass. The full SiC telescope architecture gives high optical stability.
The present paper describes the very large full-SiC telescope and the manufacturing process of its SiC parts, in particular the mirrors, the lightweight baseplate and the spider.
METimage is an advanced multispectral radiometer for weather and climate forecasting developed by Airbus Defence & Space under the auspices of the German Space Administration (DLR) for the EUMETSAT Polar System –Second Generation (EPS-SG). The instrument is equipped with a continuously rotating scan mirror with a 1.7s period followed by a static telescope. The scan mirror permits an extended Earth view of 108° per revolution and regular views to on-board calibration sources. A derotator assembly, which is half-speed synchronised with the scanner, is inserted in the optical beam after the telescope to compensate the image rotation in the focal plane. The derotator optical arrangement is a fivemirror concept that minimises the polarisation sensitivity. The derotator design is constrained by optical performance, mass and compactness, which led to the selection of a full silicon carbide (SiC) concept. This paper describes the preliminary design and verification approach of the derotator optics.
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