Large sparse-aperture space optical systems

Meinel, A. B.; Meinel, Marjorie P.

doi:10.1117/1.1490557

Cited by 29 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…Diffraction-limited performance has been demonstrated for sparse or dilute-aperture telescopes with active phasing control. 6 A notable project in the area of phased telescope arrays is the Multipurpose Multiple Telescope Testbed 7 ͑MMTT͒ built by the Air Force Research Laboratory ͑AFRL͒. The MMTT consists of four 20-cm-aperture telescopes phased together with a 15-arcmin FOV.…”

Section: Sparse Aperture Interferometric Arraysmentioning

confidence: 99%

ARGOS testbed: study of multidisciplinary challenges of future spaceborne interferometric arrays

2004

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Abstract. Future spaceborne interferometric arrays must meet stringent optical performance and tolerance requirements while exhibiting modularity and acceptable manufacture and integration cost levels. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Adaptive Reconnaissance Golay-3 Optical Satellite (ARGOS) is a wide-angle Fizeau interferometer spacecraft testbed designed to address these research challenges. Designing a space-based stellar interferometer, which requires tight tolerances on pointing and alignment for its apertures, presents unique multidisciplinary challenges in the areas of structural dynamics, controls, and multiaperture phasing active optics. In meeting these challenges, emphasis is placed on modularity in spacecraft subsystems and optics as a means of enabling expandability and upgradeability. A rigorous theory of beam-combining errors for sparse optical arrays is derived and flown down to the design of various subsystems. A detailed elaboration on the optics system and control system is presented based on the performance requirements and beam-combining error tolerances. The space environment is simulated by floating ARGOS on a frictionless airbearing that enables it to track both fast and slow moving targets.

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Section: Sparse Aperture Interferometric Arraysmentioning

confidence: 99%

ARGOS testbed: study of multidisciplinary challenges of future spaceborne interferometric arrays

2004

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“…Practically, their arrangement might become impracticable above a given number N of telescopes (say, N ≥ 10). A good illustration of such complexity can be found in the paper from Meinel and Meinel [14] who described the opto-mechanical design of a space telescope made of numerous phased sub-apertures.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Phase-shifting technique for improving the imaging capacity of sparse-aperture optical interferometers

Hénault¹

2011

Appl. Opt.

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In this paper, we describe the principle of a multi-aperture interferometer that uses a phase-shifting technique and is suitable for quick, snapshot imaging of astrophysical objects at extreme angular resolution through Fourier inversion. A few advantages of the proposed design are highlighted, among which are radiometric efficiency, Field of View equivalent to those of Fizeau interferometers, and a preliminary calibration procedure allowing characterization of instrumental errors. For large telescope numbers, the proposed design also results in considerable simplification of the optical and mechanical design. Numerical simulations suggest that it should be possible to couple hundreds of telescopes on a single 4K x 4K detector array, using only conventional optical components or emerging technologies.

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“…The example formation chosen is that of a noncontacting ring structure. This particular formation geometry is of interest in the development of sparse-aperture space telescopes and affords a few key advantages such as redundant UV-plane coverage [21].…”

Section: Application To Space Structuresmentioning

confidence: 99%