Jess Köhler, Rik Jansen, Juan Irizar, Alexander Sohmer, Markus Melf, Robert Greinacher, Matthias Erdmann, Volker Kirschner, Abelardo Pérez Albiñana, Didier Martin, Bryan de Goeij, Rob Vink, James Day, Daniël Ten Bloemendal, Wim Gielesen, Jan de Vreugd, Ludger van der Laan, Adriaan van’t Hof
Sentinel-5 is an Earth atmospheric monitoring mission developed within the European Union’s Copernicus program. The mission objective is to monitor the composition of the Earth’s atmosphere on a daily basis. Airbus DS GmbH acts as the prime contractor under a European Space Agency contract. The instrument design, development, and the instrument verification was and is in many aspects a fruitful co-operation between Airbus and TNO. The first part of this paper illustrates the optical design of the five optical channels of the Sentinel 5 instrument. The innovative compact optical design sets the basis for the acquisition of the variety of trace gas spectra. The design includes a two free-form mirror wide field telescope, a pointing insensitive Dual Babinet Pseudo Depolariser type polarisation scrambler, three one-dimensional waveguide type homogenizers, five reflective and refractive anamorphotic spectrometers including different disperser types as an a-spherical reflective diffraction grating for the ultra-violet, a grism for mainly the visible, a transmissive grating for the near-infrared, and immersed reflective gratings for the short wave infrared spectral ranges. The second part of this paper focusses on the design, qualification and verification of the UV1 spectrometer subsystem. Its optical design is based on an Offner-type spectrometer which has been adapted to employ freeform optics and an aspheric off-axis grating. A monolithic housing structure has been developed for optimum stability, accessibility and easy integration of the optical components. The qualification and performance verification of the first Proto Flight Model of the UV1 spectrometer was successfully completed in July 2020.
Sentinel-5 is an Earth atmospheric monitoring mission developed within the Copernicus program. The mission objective is to monitor the composition of the Earth’s atmosphere on a daily basis. TNO is developing the UV1 spectrometer subsystem as well as the two telescope subsystems. In this paper, the design of the UV1 spectrometer is described and its major design and verification challenges are discussed.
The UV1 optical design is based on a classical Offner-type spectrometer which has been adapted to employ freeform optics and an aspheric off-axis grating. It generates a magnification of 0.4. A structural, monolithic housing has been designed that is optimized for stability, accessibility and integration of optical components. To realize a thermo-mechanically stable construction, both housing and mirror bodies are built from aluminum. Four out of five mirrors have a dedicated black coating for absorbing out-of-band light. For further stray light suppression, a graded short-pass filter is employed on the last optical element just in front of the detector.
Performance verification of a standalone spectrometer without telescope, entrance slit, limiting aperture stop and flight detector is a major challenge. For this verification TNO developed dedicated ground support equipment that will be used under both ambient and vacuum conditions; a dedicated optical stimulus that mimics the illumination from the telescope in terms of pointing and NA, a Slit Assembly that mimics the homogenizer entrance slit and a Test Detector to determine the image plane and to measure the optical performance with high accuracy.
At the time of writing this article, the first (proto-flight) model has been aligned and performance verification is about to start.
Sentinel-5/UVNS instrument is an Earth atmospheric monitoring spectrometer developed within the Copernicus program. The mission objective is to monitor the chemical composition of the Earth’s atmosphere on a daily basis. Airbus Defense and Space GmbH acts as the prime contractor for the instrument under a European Space Agency contract.
The current paper will focus on four themes. First it will provide a brief historical and technical overview of the Sentinel-5/UVNS instrument. Second, the key design drivers will be described. Third, the key optical technologies carried on board the instrument will be elaborated. Finally, the paper concludes with a short look at the current state of the instrument’s development cycle.
The Near Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec) is one of the four science instruments aboard the James Webb Space
Telescope (JWST) scheduled for launch in 2014. NIRSpec is sensitive in the wavelength range from ~ 0.6 to
5.0 μm and will be capable of obtaining spectra of more than a 100 objects simultaneously, as well as fixed slit
high contrast spectroscopy of individual sources. It also features an integral field unit for 3D spectroscopy. The
key scientific objectives of the instrument include studies of star formation and chemical abundances of young
distant galaxies and tracing the creation of the chemical elements back in time. In this paper, we present the
status of the NIRSpec instrument as it is currently being prepared for its extensive ground calibration campaign
later in 2010.
KEYWORDS: Photons, Sensors, Point spread functions, Diffraction, Device simulation, Calibration, Instrument modeling, Data modeling, Signal attenuation, James Webb Space Telescope
The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is the successor mission to the Hubble Space Telescope and will
operate in the near- and mid-infrared wavelength ranges. One of the four science instruments on board the
spacecraft is the multi-object spectrograph NIRSpec, currently developed by the European Space Agency (ESA)
with EADS Astrium Germany GmbH as the prime contractor. NIRSpec will be able to measure the spectra of
more than 100 objects simultaneously and will cover the near infrared wavelength range from 0.6 to 5.0 μm at
various spectral resolutions. To verify the performance of NIRSpec and simulate future on-ground and in-orbit
observations with this instrument, the Instrument Performance Simulator (IPS) software is developed at Centre
de Recherche Astrophysique de Lyon (CRAL) as subcontractor to Astrium.
In early and mid-2009, the NIRSpec Demonstration Model (DM), fully representative up to the slit plane,
underwent cryogenic tests and calibration runs. The detector was placed at the slit plane in case of the DM to
measure specific optical performance aspects. A simplified version of the IPS was prepared, matching the DM
configuration and also serving as a testbed for the final software for the flight model. In this paper, we first
present the simulation approach used in the IPS, followed by results of the DM calibration campaign. Then, for
the first time, simulation outputs are confronted with measured data to verify their validity.
This paper reports some details about the optical technologies used for manufacturing the mirrors of the Refocusing
Mechanism Assembly (RMA). The RMA is a novel cryogenic mechanism designed by Galileo Avionica for the Near
Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec), one of the instruments of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). The RMA
contains two flat mirrors in Zerodur coated with Protected Silver. Severe constraints for accommodation in the
Nirspec imposed very lightweighted substrates to the RMA mirrors and required state of art technologies in order to
achieve the specified quality and its maintenance at cryogenic temperatures.
The Near-Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSPEC) on board the James Webb Space Telescope can be reconfigured in space for
astronomical observation in a range of NIR sub-bands as well as spectral resolutions. Reconfiguration of the NIRSpec
instrument will be achieved using a Filter Wheel Mechanism (FWA) which carries 7 transmission filters and one reflective
mirror and a Grating Wheel Mechanism (GWA) which carries six gratings and one prism. The dispersive components
on the grating wheel (GWA) cooperate with the edge transmission filters mounted on the filter wheel (FWA) which block
the higher dispersion orders of the gratings. The paper gives an overview on the design of all optical elements, their key
requirements and the employed manufacturing approach. Test results from breadboard and component level qualification
phase are also given.
The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) mission is a collaborative project between the National Aeronautics and
Space Administration (NASA), the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA).
JWST is considered the successor to the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and although its design and science objectives
are quite different, JWST is expected to yield equivalently astonishing breakthroughs in infrared space science.
Due to be launched in 2013 from the French Guiana, the JWST observatory will be placed in an orbit around the anti-
Sun Earth-Sun Lagrangian point, L2, by an Ariane 5 launcher provided by ESA.
The payload on board the JWST observatory consists of four main scientific instruments: a near-infrared camera
(NIRCam), a mid-infrared camera/spectrograph (MIRI), a near-infrared tunable filter (TFI) and a near-infrared
spectrograph (NIRSpec). The instrument suite is completed by a Fine Guidance Sensor (FGS).
NIRSpec is a multi-object spectrograph capable of measuring the spectra of about 100 objects simultaneously at low
(R~100), medium (R~1000) and high (R~2700) resolutions over the wavelength range between 0.6 micron and 5.0
micron. It features also a classical fix-slits spectroscopy mode as well as a 3D-spectrography mode with spectral
resolutions up to 2700.
The availability of extensive and accurate calibration data of the NIRSpec instrument is a key element to ensure that the
nominal performance of the instrument will be achieved and that high-quality processed data will be made available to
the users. In this context, an on-ground calibration is planned at instrument level that will supplement the later in-flight
calibration campaign.
In this article we describe the overall on-ground instrument calibration campaigns and we provide an overview of the
main features and performances of the individual elements of the sophisticated cryogenic optical ground support
equipment (OGSE) used to calibrate NIRSpec.
The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) mission is a collaborative project between the National Aeronautics and
Space Administration (NASA), the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA).
JWST is considered the successor to the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and although its design and science objectives
are quite different, JWST is expected to yield equivalently astonishing breakthroughs in infrared space science.
Due to be launched in 2013 from the French Guiana, the JWST observatory will be placed in an orbit around the anti-
Sun Earth-Sun Lagrangian point, L2, by an Ariane 5 launcher, provided by ESA.
The payload on board the JWST observatory consists of four main scientific instruments: a near-infrared camera
(NIRCam), a combined mid-infrared camera/spectrograph (MIRI), a near-infrared tunable filter (TFI) and a nearinfrared
spectrograph (NIRSpec). The instrument suite is completed by a Fine Guidance Sensor (FGS).
Besides the provision of the Ariane 5 launcher, ESA, with EADS Astrium GmbH (D) as Prime Contractor, is fully
responsible for the funding and the furnishing of NIRSpec and, at the same time, for approximately half of MIRI costs
through special contributions from the ESA member states.
NIRSpec is a multi-object, spectrograph capable of measuring the spectra of about 100 objects simultaneously at low
(R=100), medium (R=1000), and high (R=2700) resolutions over the wavelength range between 0.6 micron and 5.0
micron. In this article we provide a general overview of its main design features and performances.
The near-infrared spectrograph (NIRSpec) is part of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) science mission: NIRSpec is a spectrograph that works in the near infrared spectral region (0.6micron - 5.0micron) and allows the observation of spectral features of the incident star light with different spectral resolution (R=100, R=1000, R=3000). It is designed for spectroscopy of more than 100 objects simultaneously. The optical design of the NIRSpec instrument is characterized by a straight optical system layout: It constitutes of a set of optical modules of similar optical design type with high performance and low module tolerances.
The NIRSpec instrument development is a cooperation of the European Space Agency and EADS Astrium Germany GmbH as prime contractor for instrument development, design, and manufacturing.
The NIRSpec instrument on the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is a multi-object spectrograph capable of measuring the near infrared spectrum of at least 100 objects simultaneously at various spectral resolutions. It operates under cryogenic conditions (T~ 35 K). NIRSpec is part of the JWST science instruments suite. Its main purpose is to provide low (R=100), medium (R=1000) and high resolution (R=2700) spectroscopic observations over the wavelength range 0.6 μm - 5.0 μm in support of the four JWST science programs. The NIRSpec instrument is being developed by the European Space Agency with EADS Astrium Germany GmbH as the prime contractor.
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