PROCEEDINGS ARTICLE | July 12, 2008
Proc. SPIE. 7010, Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2008: Optical, Infrared, and Millimeter
KEYWORDS: Staring arrays, Thermography, Infrared sensors, Infrared imaging, Optical filters, Imaging systems, Cameras, Sensors, Calibration, Charge-coupled devices
Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3), a panchromatic imager developed for the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), is fully
integrated with its flight detectors and has undergone several rounds of ground testing and calibration at Goddard Space
Flight Center (GSFC). The testing processes are highly automated, with WFC3 and the optical stimulus, which is used to
provide external targets and illumination, being commanded by coordinated computer scripts. All test data are captured
and stored in the long-term Hubble Data Archive. A full suite of instrument characterization and calibration tests has
been performed, including the measurement of key detector properties such as dark current, read noise, flat field
response, gain, linearity, and persistence, as well as instrument-level properties like total system throughput, imaging
quality and encircled energy, grism dispersions, IR thermal background, and image stability. Nearly all instrument
characteristics have been shown to meet or exceed expectations and requirements.
