Spitzer Space Telescope mission design

Kwok, Johnny H.; Garcia, Mark; Bonfiglio, Eugene; Long, Stacia M.

doi:10.1117/12.551598

Cited by 8 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 1 publication

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“…The segmented primary reflector will consist of 18 hexagonal Beryllium (Be) 1•32m flat-to-flat segments, using heritage technology from the Spitzer mission (23,24) . Six of these segments are deployable to permit the structure to fit in the Ariane V rocket launch fairing.…”

Section: James Webb Space Telescope (Jwst)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Optical space telescope structures: The state of the art and future directions

Santer¹,

Seffen²

2009

Aeronaut. j.

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which permits observation in the infrared (IR) range. However, they operate in an extremely hostile environment, and furthermore, they must be launched into space, which means they must be able to sustain additional vibrational, thermal, and acoustic loading, and which restricts the volume to that which may be enclosed within the fairing. In both ground-based and space-based cases, in order to achieve desired optical accuracy of the reflectors, extremely precise surface tolerances -potentially of the order of nanometers -are required.The design of telescopes links many fields including optics, control, structures, and it is clear that for a successful telescope to be realised its design must be carried out at a systems level, incorporating all the necessary disciplines. The purpose of this review is to focus on the role that the structures community can play in the design of telescopes by defining the state of the art from a structural perspective. By so doing, it is hoped that future research may be more effectively informed. Telescope components and definitionsIt is first necessary to consider a broader description of the components of a telescope in order to contextualise the structural aspects. Therefore, in this section a brief introduction to the generalised structure of reflecting and refracting telescopes is provided, and key terminology and definitions are introduced. ABSTRACTFuture space telescopes will be required to have significantly greater aperture and lower areal density than is currently achievable. Gossamer spacecraft structures have been proposed as a means of achieving this, but the technologies are far from mature. A state-ofthe-art review is timely and necessary as new structural paradigms are being considered for the next generation of space telescopes. There is, however, a knowledge gap between the structural engineering community and the additional fields involved in the complete telescope system, leading to the proposal of structures which are unlikely to be launched. It is hoped that, by providing a resource by which structural engineers are made aware of the wider issues in telescope design, this review will serve to overcome this knowledge gap to facilitate productive collaboration.

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Section: James Webb Space Telescope (Jwst)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Optical space telescope structures: The state of the art and future directions

Santer¹,

Seffen²

2009

Aeronaut. j.

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“…In order to provide the benign thermal environment necessary for proper radiative cooling the Spitzer Space Telescope was launched into an Earth-trailing solar orbit 10 . As of May 19, 2004 Spitzer was trailing 12.4x10 6 km behind the Earth.…”

Section: Spitzer Orbit and Operations Descriptionmentioning

confidence: 99%

On-orbit performance of the Spitzer Space Telescope

et al. 2004

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The Spitzer Space Telescope (formally known as SIRTF) was successfully launched on August 25, 2003, and has completed its initial in-orbit checkout and science validation and calibration period. The measured performance of the observatory has met or exceeded all of its high-level requirements, it entered normal operations in January 2004, and is returning high-quality science data. A superfluid-helium cooled 85 cm diameter telescope provides extremely low infrared backgrounds and feeds three science instruments covering wavelengths ranging from 3.6 to 160 microns. The telescope optical quality is excellent, providing diffraction-limited performance down to wavelengths below 6.5 microns. Based on the first helium mass and boil-off rate measurements, a cryogenic lifetime in excess of 5 years is expected. This presentation will provide a summary of the overall performance of the observatory, with an emphasis on those performance parameters that have the greatest impact on its ultimate science return.

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“…Launched on August 25, 2003, Spitzer was placed into an Earth-trailing solar orbit, which positions the spacecraft well outside any shielding effects of the Earth's magnetosphere or enhancements in charged particle flux due to the Earth's radiation belts 9,11 . Following launch, Spitzer underwent a 3-month evaluation during the In-Orbit Checkout (IOC) and Science Verification periods 12 , during which the telescope was focused 13,14 and a functional checkout of the instruments and observational templates was performed 2 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The effects of cosmic rays and solar flares on the IRAC detectors: the first two years of in-flight operation

et al. 2006

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The Infrared Array Camera (IRAC) is a four-channel camera on the Spitzer Space Telescope, one of three focal plane science instruments. IRAC uses two pairs of 256×256 pixel InSb and Si:As IBC detectors to provide simultaneous imaging at 3.6, 4.5, 5.8, and 8 μm. IRAC experiences a flux of cosmic rays and solar protons that produce transient effects in science images from each of the arrays, with 4 -6 pixels per second being affected during each integration. During extreme solar flares, IRAC experiences a much higher rate of transients which affects the science data quality. We present cosmic ray rates and observed detector characteristics for IRAC during the first two years of science operation, and rates observed in a period of elevated solar proton flux during an intense solar flare in January 2005. We show the changes to the IRAC detectors observed since launch, and assess their impacts to the science data quality.

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Spitzer Space Telescope mission design

Cited by 8 publications

References 1 publication

Optical space telescope structures: The state of the art and future directions

Optical space telescope structures: The state of the art and future directions

On-orbit performance of the Spitzer Space Telescope

The effects of cosmic rays and solar flares on the IRAC detectors: the first two years of in-flight operation

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