Preparation of the pointing and control system of the SOFIA Airborne Telescope for early science missions

Lampater, Ulrich; Herter, T.; Keas, Paul; Harms, Franziska; Engfer, Christian; Salewsky, Peter; Jakob, H.; Roeser, Hans─Peter

doi:10.1117/12.856562

Cited by 7 publications

(5 citation statements)

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“…The third element of the acquisition system is the Focal Plane Imager (FPI), located at the main telescope focus and having a 9' diameter field of view. The telescope control system is described in a number of papers in this symposium, and details can be found in Lampater et al 1 and Karcher et al 2 . Figure 2.…”

Section: Telescopementioning

confidence: 99%

SOFIA: progress to initial science flights

et al. 2010

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SOFIA, the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy, is a specially modified Boeing 747SP aircraft with a 2.7-m telescope. Flying above more than 99% of the water vapor in the Earth's atmosphere, SOFIA will enable observations of large regions of the infrared and submillimeter that are normally opaque to terrestrial observatories. A joint project of NASA and DLR, SOFIA has completed a series of major flight tests leading up to the Initial Science Flights this year. In particular, SOFIA has recently completed its first observations through the telescope. This paper gives an overview of the facility and reports on the recent progress in the development of this major astronomical facility including the First Light observations with the FORCAST infrared camera.

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Section: Telescopementioning

confidence: 99%

SOFIA: progress to initial science flights

et al. 2010

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“…9. Further information on SOFIA image quality and plans for improvements can be found in Lampater et al (2010Lampater et al ( , 2011; Temi et al (2014); Graf et al (2016).…”

Section: Image Qualitymentioning

confidence: 99%

FORCAST: A Mid-Infrared Camera for SOFIA

Herter

Adams

Gull

et al. 2018

J. Astron. Instrum.

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We describe the Faint Object infraRed CAmera for the SOFIA Telescope (FORCAST) which is presently operating as a facility instrument on the Stratospheric Observatory For Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA). FORCAST provides imaging and moderate resolution spectroscopy capability over the 5–40[Formula: see text][Formula: see text]m wavelength range. In imaging mode, FORCAST has a 3.4[Formula: see text] field-of-view with 0.768[Formula: see text] pixels. Using grisms, FORCAST provides long-slit low-resolution ([Formula: see text]–300) and short-slit, cross-dispersed medium-resolution spectroscopic modes ([Formula: see text]–1200) over select wavelengths. Preceded by both Spitzer and Herschel, the discovery phase space for FORCAST lies in providing unique photometric bands and/or spectroscopic coverage, higher spatial resolution and exploration of the brightest sources which typically saturate space observatories.

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“…2. The FD control system has a cascaded structure of feedback loops, which is described in more detail in Lampater (2014) and Lampater et al (2010). The bandwidth of the FD is constrained to the lower frequency range (3-5 Hz, depending on the axis) due to°exible modes and phase loss (due to delay).…”

Section: Pointing and Control System Structurementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Therefore, these discussed and implemented. A detailed description of the development and installation of the telescope control system can be found in Lampater (2014), Reinacher (2014) and Lampater et al (2010). A¯rst analysis of the pointing stability has been introduced in Lampater et al (2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Image Size and Control System Developments of the Airborne Telescope SOFIA

Graf

Reinacher

Jakob

et al. 2018

J. Astron. Instrum.

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The SOFIA telescope is a worldwide unique observatory that enables infrared astronomy aboard a Boeing 747SP at altitudes of up to 45[Formula: see text]kft. Contrary to any ground-based telescope, SOFIA is exposed not only to aerodynamic forces but also aircraft motion and excitation. Nevertheless, the ambitious scientific goals require a stable platform and very precise pointing. As of now, the telescope can be considered diffraction-limited in the far-infrared wavelengths beyond 50[Formula: see text][Formula: see text]m. A careful study of the different sources of blur revealed that image jitter is among the most influential. During the course of a flight, the telescope is exposed to various excitation levels, leading to deformation of its flexible structure and vibrations in a wide range of frequencies. Since SOFIA entered its operational phase, continuous efforts have been made to develop and implement upgrades in the pointing and control system. The original design was a robust and conservative structure aimed to ensure safe operations with several different science instruments and many unknown parameters. In recent years, more and more agile system components have followed to tackle the residual image motion. This paper introduces the telescope control system followed by a summary of recently installed upgrades and ends with an outlook on future developments on our way to diffraction-limited imaging beyond 25[Formula: see text][Formula: see text]m.

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Preparation of the pointing and control system of the SOFIA Airborne Telescope for early science missions

Cited by 7 publications

References 0 publications

SOFIA: progress to initial science flights

SOFIA: progress to initial science flights

FORCAST: A Mid-Infrared Camera for SOFIA

Image Size and Control System Developments of the Airborne Telescope SOFIA

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