Sub-arcminute pointing from a balloonborne platform

William W. Craig; Ryan McLean; Charles J. Hailey

doi:10.1117/12.317500

30 July 1998 Sub-arcminute pointing from a balloonborne platform

William W. Craig, Ryan McLean, Charles J. Hailey

Proceedings Volume 3365, Acquisition, Tracking, and Pointing XII; (1998) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.317500
Event: Aerospace/Defense Sensing and Controls, 1998, Orlando, FL, United States

Abstract

We describe the design and performance of the pointing and aspect reconstruction system on the Gamma-Ray Arcminute Telescope Imaging System. The payload consists of a 4m long gamma-ray telescope, capable of producing images of the gamma-ray sky at an angular resolution of 2 arcminutes. The telescope is operated at an altitude of 40km in azimuth/elevation pointing mode. Using a variety of sensor, including attitude GPS, fiber optic gyroscopes, star and sun trackers, the system is capable of pointing the gamma-ray payload to within an arc-minute from the balloon borne platform. The system is designed for long-term autonomous operation and performed to specification throughout a recent 36 hour flight from Alice Springs, Australia. A star tracker and pattern recognition software developed for the mission permit aspect reconstruction to better than 10 arcseconds. The narrow field star tracker system is capable of acquiring and identifying a star field without external input. We present flight data form all sensors and the resultant gamma-ray source localizations.

Citation Download Citation

William W. Craig, Ryan McLean, and Charles J. Hailey "Sub-arcminute pointing from a balloonborne platform", Proc. SPIE 3365, Acquisition, Tracking, and Pointing XII, (30 July 1998); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.317500

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