Adaptive thermal refocusing system for a high-resolution space camera

Abstract

To solve the problem of camera imaging quality degradation caused by defocusing during on-orbit operation, we propose an adaptive thermal refocusing system for high-resolution space cameras—the system comprising active and passive thermal refocusing. Using a space camera with a Ritchey–Chretien optical system as an example, the secondary mirror assembly was determined to be a passive thermal refocusing system, the primary mirror assembly being an active thermal refocusing system. We analyzed the system through structure/thermal/optics performance simulation when temperature variation Δ T was 5°C, 10°C, and 15°C; thermal vacuum experiments verified that the axial displacement of the active system was 0.0032, 0.0061, and 0.0090 mm, and the passive system was 0.00015, 0.00030, and 0.00069 mm, respectively. The data demonstrated the adaptive refocusing system theory to be consistent with the simulations and experiment, exhibiting high stability and reliability.

3D ray tracing methods across inhomogeneous refractive indices using a transmission equation

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