CONTOUR Forward Imager on the Comet Nucleus Tour Mission

S. J. Conard; J. W. Warren; O. S. Barnouin-Jha; James Bell; J. D. Boldt; A. F. Bowman; A. L. Cochran; E. H. Darlington; T. Deluzio; D. Fiore; D. Garcia; B. L. Gotwols; M. P. Grey; A. Harch; J. R. Hayes; K. J. Heffernan; D. C. Humm; N. R. Izenberg; K. E. Kosakowski; H. M. Luther; D. S. Mehoke; S. L. Murchie; L. M. Prockter; B. Rider; D. Sampath; E. D. Schaefer; S. Svenson; H. W. Taylor; P. L. Thompson; J. Veverka; R. L. Williams; P. Wilson

doi:10.1117/12.506344

CONTOUR Forward Imager on the Comet Nucleus Tour Mission

S. J. Conard, J. W. Warren, O. S. Barnouin-Jha, James Bell, J. D. Boldt, A. F. Bowman, A. L. Cochran, E. H. Darlington, T. Deluzio, D. Fiore, D. Garcia, B. L. Gotwols, M. P. Grey, A. Harch, J. R. Hayes, K. J. Heffernan, D. C. Humm, N. R. Izenberg, K. E. Kosakowski, H. M. LutherD. S. Mehoke, S. L. Murchie, L. M. Prockter, B. Rider, D. Sampath, E. D. Schaefer, S. Svenson, H. W. Taylor, P. L. Thompson, J. Veverka, R. L. Williams, P. Wilson

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution

3 Scopus citations

Abstract

A filtered imager, the CONTOUR Forward Imager (CFI), was designed, fabricated, and qualified for the Comet Nucleus Tour (CONTOUR) Discovery class mission. The CONTOUR spacecraft was launched July 3, 2002, and failed during injection to heliocentric orbit on August 15, 2002. This paper provides an overview of the efforts to produce CFI. The CFI imager was designed to perform optical navigation, comet nucleus imaging, and comet coma imaging. The CONTOUR Remote Imager and Spectrometer (CRISP) complemented CFI in the CONTOUR payload. The emphasis in the CFI design was on high sensitivity at moderate to long ranges from the comet nucleus, while CRISP was designed for high-speed observations in close to the nucleus. A unique aspect of CFI was the requirement to image multiple comets after being exposed to high-velocity cometary dust on the previous comet flybys (which damages and contaminates the forward looking optics). The first optical surface was replaceable between comet encounters, using a fold mirror mechanism, to alleviate the dust damage. Another challenging aspect of the design was that the spacecraft was thruster stabilized (no reaction wheels), placing limits on the available exposure time to accomplish the high sensitivity observations required. CFI utilized ten filters covering from 300 to 920 nm to image onto a backthinned 1024 by 1024 element CCD. A Ritchey-Chretien telescope provided a clear aperture of 60 mm, a full field of view of 2.5 degrees, and a pixel field of view of 43 microradians. CFI was designed and fabricated by a combined effort of the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory and SSG Precision Optronics. The CONTOUR mission was lost prior to CFI being powered on in flight.

Original language	English (US)
Title of host publication	Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering
Editors	R.B. Hoover, A.Y. Rozanov
Pages	72-83
Number of pages	12
Volume	5163
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1117/12.506344
State	Published - 2004
Externally published	Yes
Event	Instruments, Methods, and Mission for Astrobiology VII - San Diego, CA, United States Duration: Aug 3 2003 → Aug 4 2003

Other

Other	Instruments, Methods, and Mission for Astrobiology VII
Country/Territory	United States
City	San Diego, CA
Period	8/3/03 → 8/4/03

Keywords

Comet
CONTOUR
Imager
Space
Ultraviolet

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Electrical and Electronic Engineering
Condensed Matter Physics

Access to Document

10.1117/12.506344

Cite this

Conard, S. J., Warren, J. W., Barnouin-Jha, O. S., Bell, J., Boldt, J. D., Bowman, A. F., Cochran, A. L., Darlington, E. H., Deluzio, T., Fiore, D., Garcia, D., Gotwols, B. L., Grey, M. P., Harch, A., Hayes, J. R., Heffernan, K. J., Humm, D. C., Izenberg, N. R., Kosakowski, K. E., ... Wilson, P. (2004). CONTOUR Forward Imager on the Comet Nucleus Tour Mission. In R. B. Hoover, & A. Y. Rozanov (Eds.), Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering (Vol. 5163, pp. 72-83) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.506344

Conard, SJ, Warren, JW, Barnouin-Jha, OS, Bell, J, Boldt, JD, Bowman, AF, Cochran, AL, Darlington, EH, Deluzio, T, Fiore, D, Garcia, D, Gotwols, BL, Grey, MP, Harch, A, Hayes, JR, Heffernan, KJ, Humm, DC, Izenberg, NR, Kosakowski, KE, Luther, HM, Mehoke, DS, Murchie, SL, Prockter, LM, Rider, B, Sampath, D, Schaefer, ED, Svenson, S, Taylor, HW, Thompson, PL, Veverka, J, Williams, RL & Wilson, P 2004, CONTOUR Forward Imager on the Comet Nucleus Tour Mission. in RB Hoover & AY Rozanov (eds), Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering. vol. 5163, pp. 72-83, Instruments, Methods, and Mission for Astrobiology VII, San Diego, CA, United States, 8/3/03. https://doi.org/10.1117/12.506344

@inproceedings{6c546f8254784c7498345545c0cfdff2,

title = "CONTOUR Forward Imager on the Comet Nucleus Tour Mission",

abstract = "A filtered imager, the CONTOUR Forward Imager (CFI), was designed, fabricated, and qualified for the Comet Nucleus Tour (CONTOUR) Discovery class mission. The CONTOUR spacecraft was launched July 3, 2002, and failed during injection to heliocentric orbit on August 15, 2002. This paper provides an overview of the efforts to produce CFI. The CFI imager was designed to perform optical navigation, comet nucleus imaging, and comet coma imaging. The CONTOUR Remote Imager and Spectrometer (CRISP) complemented CFI in the CONTOUR payload. The emphasis in the CFI design was on high sensitivity at moderate to long ranges from the comet nucleus, while CRISP was designed for high-speed observations in close to the nucleus. A unique aspect of CFI was the requirement to image multiple comets after being exposed to high-velocity cometary dust on the previous comet flybys (which damages and contaminates the forward looking optics). The first optical surface was replaceable between comet encounters, using a fold mirror mechanism, to alleviate the dust damage. Another challenging aspect of the design was that the spacecraft was thruster stabilized (no reaction wheels), placing limits on the available exposure time to accomplish the high sensitivity observations required. CFI utilized ten filters covering from 300 to 920 nm to image onto a backthinned 1024 by 1024 element CCD. A Ritchey-Chretien telescope provided a clear aperture of 60 mm, a full field of view of 2.5 degrees, and a pixel field of view of 43 microradians. CFI was designed and fabricated by a combined effort of the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory and SSG Precision Optronics. The CONTOUR mission was lost prior to CFI being powered on in flight.",

keywords = "Comet, CONTOUR, Imager, Space, Ultraviolet",

author = "Conard, {S. J.} and Warren, {J. W.} and Barnouin-Jha, {O. S.} and James Bell and Boldt, {J. D.} and Bowman, {A. F.} and Cochran, {A. L.} and Darlington, {E. H.} and T. Deluzio and D. Fiore and D. Garcia and Gotwols, {B. L.} and Grey, {M. P.} and A. Harch and Hayes, {J. R.} and Heffernan, {K. J.} and Humm, {D. C.} and Izenberg, {N. R.} and Kosakowski, {K. E.} and Luther, {H. M.} and Mehoke, {D. S.} and Murchie, {S. L.} and Prockter, {L. M.} and B. Rider and D. Sampath and Schaefer, {E. D.} and S. Svenson and Taylor, {H. W.} and Thompson, {P. L.} and J. Veverka and Williams, {R. L.} and P. Wilson",

year = "2004",

doi = "10.1117/12.506344",

language = "English (US)",

volume = "5163",

pages = "72--83",

editor = "R.B. Hoover and A.Y. Rozanov",

booktitle = "Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering",

note = "Instruments, Methods, and Mission for Astrobiology VII ; Conference date: 03-08-2003 Through 04-08-2003",

}

TY - GEN

T1 - CONTOUR Forward Imager on the Comet Nucleus Tour Mission

AU - Conard, S. J.

AU - Warren, J. W.

AU - Barnouin-Jha, O. S.

AU - Bell, James

AU - Boldt, J. D.

AU - Bowman, A. F.

AU - Cochran, A. L.

AU - Darlington, E. H.

AU - Deluzio, T.

AU - Fiore, D.

AU - Garcia, D.

AU - Gotwols, B. L.

AU - Grey, M. P.

AU - Harch, A.

AU - Hayes, J. R.

AU - Heffernan, K. J.

AU - Humm, D. C.

AU - Izenberg, N. R.

AU - Kosakowski, K. E.

AU - Luther, H. M.

AU - Mehoke, D. S.

AU - Murchie, S. L.

AU - Prockter, L. M.

AU - Rider, B.

AU - Sampath, D.

AU - Schaefer, E. D.

AU - Svenson, S.

AU - Taylor, H. W.

AU - Thompson, P. L.

AU - Veverka, J.

AU - Williams, R. L.

AU - Wilson, P.

PY - 2004

Y1 - 2004

N2 - A filtered imager, the CONTOUR Forward Imager (CFI), was designed, fabricated, and qualified for the Comet Nucleus Tour (CONTOUR) Discovery class mission. The CONTOUR spacecraft was launched July 3, 2002, and failed during injection to heliocentric orbit on August 15, 2002. This paper provides an overview of the efforts to produce CFI. The CFI imager was designed to perform optical navigation, comet nucleus imaging, and comet coma imaging. The CONTOUR Remote Imager and Spectrometer (CRISP) complemented CFI in the CONTOUR payload. The emphasis in the CFI design was on high sensitivity at moderate to long ranges from the comet nucleus, while CRISP was designed for high-speed observations in close to the nucleus. A unique aspect of CFI was the requirement to image multiple comets after being exposed to high-velocity cometary dust on the previous comet flybys (which damages and contaminates the forward looking optics). The first optical surface was replaceable between comet encounters, using a fold mirror mechanism, to alleviate the dust damage. Another challenging aspect of the design was that the spacecraft was thruster stabilized (no reaction wheels), placing limits on the available exposure time to accomplish the high sensitivity observations required. CFI utilized ten filters covering from 300 to 920 nm to image onto a backthinned 1024 by 1024 element CCD. A Ritchey-Chretien telescope provided a clear aperture of 60 mm, a full field of view of 2.5 degrees, and a pixel field of view of 43 microradians. CFI was designed and fabricated by a combined effort of the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory and SSG Precision Optronics. The CONTOUR mission was lost prior to CFI being powered on in flight.

AB - A filtered imager, the CONTOUR Forward Imager (CFI), was designed, fabricated, and qualified for the Comet Nucleus Tour (CONTOUR) Discovery class mission. The CONTOUR spacecraft was launched July 3, 2002, and failed during injection to heliocentric orbit on August 15, 2002. This paper provides an overview of the efforts to produce CFI. The CFI imager was designed to perform optical navigation, comet nucleus imaging, and comet coma imaging. The CONTOUR Remote Imager and Spectrometer (CRISP) complemented CFI in the CONTOUR payload. The emphasis in the CFI design was on high sensitivity at moderate to long ranges from the comet nucleus, while CRISP was designed for high-speed observations in close to the nucleus. A unique aspect of CFI was the requirement to image multiple comets after being exposed to high-velocity cometary dust on the previous comet flybys (which damages and contaminates the forward looking optics). The first optical surface was replaceable between comet encounters, using a fold mirror mechanism, to alleviate the dust damage. Another challenging aspect of the design was that the spacecraft was thruster stabilized (no reaction wheels), placing limits on the available exposure time to accomplish the high sensitivity observations required. CFI utilized ten filters covering from 300 to 920 nm to image onto a backthinned 1024 by 1024 element CCD. A Ritchey-Chretien telescope provided a clear aperture of 60 mm, a full field of view of 2.5 degrees, and a pixel field of view of 43 microradians. CFI was designed and fabricated by a combined effort of the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory and SSG Precision Optronics. The CONTOUR mission was lost prior to CFI being powered on in flight.

KW - Comet

KW - CONTOUR

KW - Imager

KW - Space

KW - Ultraviolet

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=11144358035&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=11144358035&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1117/12.506344

DO - 10.1117/12.506344

M3 - Conference contribution

AN - SCOPUS:11144358035

VL - 5163

SP - 72

EP - 83

BT - Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering

A2 - Hoover, R.B.

A2 - Rozanov, A.Y.

T2 - Instruments, Methods, and Mission for Astrobiology VII

Y2 - 3 August 2003 through 4 August 2003

ER -

CONTOUR Forward Imager on the Comet Nucleus Tour Mission

Abstract

Other

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this