Space Infrared Telescope Facility telescope overview

Helene R. Schember; Paul K. Manhart; Cecilia N. Guiar; James H. Stevens

doi:10.1117/12.48714

1 December 1991 Space Infrared Telescope Facility telescope overview

Helene R. Schember, Paul K. Manhart, Cecilia N. Guiar, James H. Stevens

Proceedings Volume 1540, Infrared Technology XVII; (1991) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.48714
Event: San Diego, '91, 1991, San Diego, CA, United States

Abstract

The Space Infrared Telescope Facility (SIRTF) will be the first true infrared observatory in space, building upon the technical and scientific experience gained through its two NASA survey-oriented predecessors: the Infrared Astronomical Satellite and the Cosmic Background Explorer. During its minimum five year lifetime, the SIRTF will perform pointed scientific observations at wavelengths from 1.8 to 1200 microns with an increase in sensitivity over previous missions of several orders of magnitude. This paper discusses a candidate design for the SIRTF telescope, encompassing optics, cryostat, and instrument accommodation, which has been undertaken to provide a fulcrum for the development of functional requirements, interface definition, risk assessment and cost. The telescope optics employ a baffled Ritchey-Chretien Cassegrain system with a 1-m class primary mirror, an active secondary mirror, and a stationary facetted tertiary mirror. The optics are embedded in a large superfluid He cryostat designed to maintain the entire telescope-instrument system at temperatures below 3 K.

Citation Download Citation

Helene R. Schember, Paul K. Manhart, Cecilia N. Guiar, and James H. Stevens "Space Infrared Telescope Facility telescope overview", Proc. SPIE 1540, Infrared Technology XVII, (1 December 1991); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.48714

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