Development of the SAFARI Instrument Simulator

Abstract

Three instruments have been proposed for the JAXA-ESA Space Infrared Telescope for Cosmology and Astrophysics (SPICA) Mission: a mid-infrared coronagraph, a mid-infrared camera and spectrometer, and a far-infrared imaging spectrometer (SAFARI). An overview of the SA-FARI instrument simulator currently being developed is presented.The simulator will not only find use during the design phase of the instrument, but also during the evaluation of the performance of the flight model during the ground test campaigns. Through validation of the simulator by using ground test data, it will be possible to predict reliably the in-orbit performance of SAFARI. Specifically, the simulator will be used to investigate the scientific capabilities of the instrument at three resolving powers (λ/Δλ = 3, 100, 2000) over the wavelength range 30-210 μm, nominally separated into three sub-bands (Swinyard & Nakagawa, 2008).