NICMOS cold-well displacement monitor: A portable Hubble simulator

John E. Mentzell; Malcolm B. McIntosh; John P. Schwenker; Rodger I. Thompson

doi:10.1117/12.317227

NICMOS cold-well displacement monitor: A portable Hubble simulator

John E. Mentzell, Malcolm B. McIntosh, John P. Schwenker, Rodger I. Thompson

Astronomy

Research output: Contribution to journal › Conference article › peer-review

Abstract

The anomalous motion of the near IR camera and multi-object spectrometer (NICMOS) detector arrays was originally discovered and characterized during ground optical testing, in a large, high fidelity Hubble Space Telescope (HST) simulator. To monitor the state of the cryo-mechanical system, as NICMOS traveled among several testing sties, a portable stimulus was needed. The cold-well displacement monitor (CDM) was quickly assembled from a very simple design. The 'cheaper, better, faster' approach proved to be a winner here. Off-the-shelf optics, a simplified interface to the instrument, and a limited set of requirements were used. After calibration against the large refractive aberration simulator/Hubble opto-mechanical simulator (RAS/HOMS), the CDM gave results of similar accuracy to RAS/HOMS. It became the primary tool for the difficult job of managing the NICMOS cryogen system up through launch.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	1044-1052
Number of pages	9
Journal	Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering
Volume	3354
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1117/12.317227
State	Published - 1998
Event	Infrared Astronomical Instrumentation - Kona, HI, United States Duration: Mar 23 1998 → Mar 23 1998

Keywords

Hubble Space Telescope
Infrared camera
Instrument testing
NICMOS

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
Condensed Matter Physics
Computer Science Applications
Applied Mathematics
Electrical and Electronic Engineering

Access to Document

10.1117/12.317227

Cite this

@article{4d530b787d4d46679aefa9a8d624a530,

title = "NICMOS cold-well displacement monitor: A portable Hubble simulator",

abstract = "The anomalous motion of the near IR camera and multi-object spectrometer (NICMOS) detector arrays was originally discovered and characterized during ground optical testing, in a large, high fidelity Hubble Space Telescope (HST) simulator. To monitor the state of the cryo-mechanical system, as NICMOS traveled among several testing sties, a portable stimulus was needed. The cold-well displacement monitor (CDM) was quickly assembled from a very simple design. The 'cheaper, better, faster' approach proved to be a winner here. Off-the-shelf optics, a simplified interface to the instrument, and a limited set of requirements were used. After calibration against the large refractive aberration simulator/Hubble opto-mechanical simulator (RAS/HOMS), the CDM gave results of similar accuracy to RAS/HOMS. It became the primary tool for the difficult job of managing the NICMOS cryogen system up through launch.",

keywords = "Hubble Space Telescope, Infrared camera, Instrument testing, NICMOS",

author = "Mentzell, {John E.} and McIntosh, {Malcolm B.} and Schwenker, {John P.} and Thompson, {Rodger I.}",

year = "1998",

doi = "10.1117/12.317227",

language = "English (US)",

volume = "3354",

pages = "1044--1052",

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

issn = "0277-786X",

publisher = "SPIE",

note = "Infrared Astronomical Instrumentation ; Conference date: 23-03-1998 Through 23-03-1998",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - NICMOS cold-well displacement monitor

T2 - Infrared Astronomical Instrumentation

AU - Mentzell, John E.

AU - McIntosh, Malcolm B.

AU - Schwenker, John P.

AU - Thompson, Rodger I.

PY - 1998

Y1 - 1998

N2 - The anomalous motion of the near IR camera and multi-object spectrometer (NICMOS) detector arrays was originally discovered and characterized during ground optical testing, in a large, high fidelity Hubble Space Telescope (HST) simulator. To monitor the state of the cryo-mechanical system, as NICMOS traveled among several testing sties, a portable stimulus was needed. The cold-well displacement monitor (CDM) was quickly assembled from a very simple design. The 'cheaper, better, faster' approach proved to be a winner here. Off-the-shelf optics, a simplified interface to the instrument, and a limited set of requirements were used. After calibration against the large refractive aberration simulator/Hubble opto-mechanical simulator (RAS/HOMS), the CDM gave results of similar accuracy to RAS/HOMS. It became the primary tool for the difficult job of managing the NICMOS cryogen system up through launch.

AB - The anomalous motion of the near IR camera and multi-object spectrometer (NICMOS) detector arrays was originally discovered and characterized during ground optical testing, in a large, high fidelity Hubble Space Telescope (HST) simulator. To monitor the state of the cryo-mechanical system, as NICMOS traveled among several testing sties, a portable stimulus was needed. The cold-well displacement monitor (CDM) was quickly assembled from a very simple design. The 'cheaper, better, faster' approach proved to be a winner here. Off-the-shelf optics, a simplified interface to the instrument, and a limited set of requirements were used. After calibration against the large refractive aberration simulator/Hubble opto-mechanical simulator (RAS/HOMS), the CDM gave results of similar accuracy to RAS/HOMS. It became the primary tool for the difficult job of managing the NICMOS cryogen system up through launch.

KW - Hubble Space Telescope

KW - Infrared camera

KW - Instrument testing

KW - NICMOS

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=60949094410&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=60949094410&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1117/12.317227

DO - 10.1117/12.317227

M3 - Conference article

AN - SCOPUS:60949094410

SN - 0277-786X

VL - 3354

SP - 1044

EP - 1052

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

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

Y2 - 23 March 1998 through 23 March 1998

ER -

NICMOS cold-well displacement monitor: A portable Hubble simulator

Abstract

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this