Coronagraphy; Formation-flying; On-board metrology; SiPM (Silicon Photomultipliers); SPS (Shadow Position Sensor); Sun pointing; 3-D displacement; Formation flying; Metrology systems; Mission objectives; On-board metrologies; Position sensors; Submillimeters; Visible light; Aerospace Engineering; Astronomy and Astrophysics; Geophysics; Atmospheric Science; Space and Planetary Science; Earth and Planetary Sciences (all); General Earth and Planetary Sciences
Abstract :
[en] PROBA-3 is an ESA mission aimed at the demonstration of formation flying performance of two satellites that will form a giant coronagraph in space. The first spacecraft will host a telescope imaging the solar corona in visible light, while the second, the external occulter, will produce an artificial eclipse. This instrument is named ASPIICS (Association of Spacecraft for Polarimetric and Imaging Investigation of the Corona of the Sun). To accomplish the payload's scientific tasks, PROBA-3 will ensure sub-millimeter reciprocal positioning of its two satellites using closed-loop on-board metrology. Several metrology systems will be used and the Shadow Position Sensor (SPS) subsystem senses the penumbra around the instrument aperture and returns the 3-D displacement of the coronagraph satellite, with respect to its nominal position, by running a dedicated algorithm. In this paper, we describe how the SPS works and the choices made to accomplish the mission objectives.
Disciplines :
Space science, astronomy & astrophysics
Author, co-author :
Noce, Vladimiro; INAF-Arcetri Astrophysical Observatory, Florence, Italy ; University of Florence, Department of Physics and Astronomy, I-50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Italy
The authors acknowledge the support provided by the PROBA-3 Managerial and Technical Staff of the European Space Agency (ESA) within the contract with CSL (Centre Spatial de Liège) and subcontractors, subscribed for the Payload Instrument design and development (C/D Phases).
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