Raytheon Vision Systems (RVS) has a long history of providing state of the art infrared sensor chip assemblies (SCAs) for the astronomical community. This paper will provide an update of RVS capabilities for the community not only for the infrared wavelengths but also in the visible wavelengths as well. Large format infrared detector arrays are now available that meet the demanding requirements of the low background scientific community across the wavelength spectrum. These detector arrays have formats from 1k x 1k to as large as 8k x 8k with pixel sizes ranging from 8 to 27 μm. Focal plane arrays have been demonstrated with a variety of detector materials: SiPiN, HgCdTe, InSb, and Si:As IBC. All of these detector materials have demonstrated low noise and dark current, high quantum efficiency, and excellent uniformity. All can meet the high performance requirements for low-background within the limits of their respective spectral and operating temperature ranges.
Raytheon Vision Systems (RVS) arrays are being deployed world-wide in ground based and space based platforms.
RVS has a family of high performance visible through far infrared detector arrays for astronomy and civil space
applications. Unique and off-the-shelf product lines are readily available to the community. Large sensor chip
assemblies using various detector materials like Si PIN, HgCdTe, InSb, and Si:As IBC, covering a detection range from
visible (400nm) to mid-wave infrared (28μm, MWIR) have been demonstrated with excellent quantum efficiency, dark
current, and uniformity. These focal plane arrays have been designed using state-of-the-art low noise, low power, and
radiation hardened readout integrated circuits. Complete with optical filters, opto-mechanical packaging, active thermal
cooling with matching thermal straps, and optional electronics, RVS provides complete solutions for a multitude of
sensor types and mission objectives. This paper describes the recent developments of focal plane assemblies for
upcoming missions and telescope platforms.
This paper describes the Glory Mission Aerosol Polarimetry Sensor (APS) being built by Raytheon under contract to
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. Scheduled for launch in late 2008, the instrument is part of the US Climate
Change Research Initiative to determine the global distribution of aerosols and clouds with sufficient accuracy and
coverage to establish the aerosol effects on global climate change as well as begin a precise long-term aerosol record.
The Glory APS is a polarimeter with nine solar reflectance spectral bands that measure the first three Stokes parameters
vector components for a total of 27 unique measurements. In order to improve the reliability and accuracy of the
measurements, additional 9 redundant measurements are made, yielding a total of 36 channels. The sensor is designed
to acquire spatial, temporal, and spectral measurements simultaneously to minimize instrumental effects and provide
extremely accurate Raw Data Records. The APS scans in the direction close to of the spacecraft velocity vector in
order to acquire multi-angle samples for each retrieval location so that the Stokes parameters can be measured as
functions of view angle.
Raytheon Vision Systems (RVS) has developed a family of high performance large format infrared detector arrays for astronomy and civil space applications. RVS offers unique off-the-shelf solutions to the astronomy community. This paper describes mega-pixel arrays, based on multiple detector materials, developed for astronomy and low-background applications. New focal plane arrays under development at RVS for the astronomy community will also be presented.
Large Sensor Chip Assemblies (SCAs) using various detector materials like Si:PIN, HgCdTe, InSb, and Si:As IBC, covering a detection range from visible to large wavelength infrared (LWIR) have been demonstrated with an excellent quantum efficiency and very good uniformity. These focal plane arrays have been assembled using state-of-the-art low noise, low power, readout integrated circuits (ROIC) designed at RVS.
Raytheon packaging capabilities address reliability, precision alignment and flatness requirements for both ground-based and space applications. Multiple SCAs can be packaged into even larger focal planes. The VISTA telescope, for example, contains sixteen 2k × 2k infrared focal plane arrays.
RVS astronomical arrays are being deployed world-wide in ground-based and space-based applications. A summary of performance data for each of these array types from instruments in operation will be presented (VIRGO Array for large format SWIR, the ORION and VISTA Arrays, NEWFIRM and other solutions for MWIR spectral ranges).
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the Arizona State University (ASU), and Raytheon Space and Airborne Systems (SAS) Santa Barbara Remote Sensing (SBRS) have executed a series of successful Mars exploration missions. These have recently been publicized on television and the internet with the early 2004 Mars Exploration Rover (MER) mission geological robots that have revolutionized our detailed knowledge of the planet's geology and atmosphere. This latest mission success has its foundation in missions dating back to 1969. Over the past thirty-five years NASA has demonstrated a long-term commitment to planetary science and solar system exploration that continues with a commitment recently expressed by President Bush and codified in a reorganization of the NASA space sciences mission directorate. This paper reports on a small but exciting aspect of this sweeping NASA program, and illustrates the benefits and efficiency with which planetary and solar system exploration can be accomplished. Key in the success is the vision not only of NASA in general, but of the mission Principal Investigator, in particular. The specific series of missions leading to MER contains an underlying vision of carefully planned geological investigations using remote sensing instrumentation, starting with broad survey, leading to more finely resolved global imaging, and finally to landing instrumentation capable of detailed rock and soil analyses. The mission started with broad and relatively coarse spatial resolution orbital surveys with fine spectral capability focused on identifying the overall geological and atmospheric character of the planet accomplished from 1996 to the present conducted by the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Thermal Emission Spectrometer (TES). This led to the more detailed global imaging at finer spatial resolution offered by the Mars 2001 Odyssey Mission Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) which identified specific landing sites of interest for detailed exploration. The mission culminated in the recent MER lander geological analyses conducted by the mini-TES instruments carried by the rovers. This series of remote sensing investigations has set the stage for a new era in solar system exploration.
This paper describes some details of the results of the calibration of the Miniature Thermal Emission Spectrometer (Mini-TES) being built by Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing (SBRS) under contract to Arizona State University (ASU). This paper also serves as an update to an earlier paper (Peralta, et al, 2001) for mission description and
instrument design. Mini-TES is a single detector Fourier Transform Spectrometer (FTS), covering the spectral range 5- 29 microns (μm) at 10 cm-1 spectral resolution. Launched in June 2003, one Mini-TES instrument will fly to Mars aboard each of the two missions of NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover Project (MER), named Spirit and Opportunity. Mini-TES is designed to provide a key minerological remote sensing component of the MER mission, which includes
several other science instruments. The first Mini-TES unit was required to meet a two-year development schedule with proven, flight-tested instrumentation. Therefore, SBRS designed Mini-TES based on proven heritage from the successful Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Thermal Emission Spectrometer (TES), which was launched in 1996 and is still operational with over 500 million spectra collected to date. Mini-TES design, performance, integration onto the rovers, as well as details of the calibration are discussed. Full instrument and calibration details are the subject of an upcoming Journal of Geophysical Research Mini-TES paper by Christensen, et al.
This paper describes the dual-mission Mars 2003 Miniature Thermal Emission Spectrometer (Mini-TES) being built by Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing (SBRS) under contract to Arizona State University (ASU). Mini-TES is a single detector Fourier Transform Spectrometer (FTS), covering the spectral range 5-29 microns (micrometers ) at 10 cm-1 spectral resolution. Scheduled for launch in 2003, one Mini-TES instrument will fly to Mars aboard each of the two missions of NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Project (MER). Mini-TES is designed to provide a key minerological remote sensing component of the MER mission, which includes several other science instruments. Originally intended for the Athena Precursor Experiment (APEX) slated for a 2001 launch, the first Mini-TES unit was required to meet a two-year development schedule with proven, flight-tested instrumentation. Therefore, SBRS designed Mini-TES based on proven heritage from the successful Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Thermal Emission Spectrometer (TES), which was launched in 1996 and successfully completed its intended mission of one Martian year (two earth years) with over 100 million spectra collected to date, and counting. Relevance of the Mini-TES to MER science, overall design, performance, assembly and test flow as well as details of the hardware fabricated at SBRS, are discussed.
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