| タイトル | SWUIS-A: A Versatile, Low-Cost UV/VIS/IR Imaging System for Airborne Astronomy and Aeronomy Research |
| 本文（外部サイト） | http://hdl.handle.net/2060/20100033757 |
| 著者（英） | Durda, Daniel D.; Tomlinson, William; Vilas, Faith; Stern, S. Alan; Slater, David C. |
| 著者所属（英） | NASA Johnson Space Center |
| 発行日 | 2001-01-01 |
| 言語 | eng |
| 内容記述 | We have developed and successfully flight-tested on 14 different airborne missions the hardware and techniques for routinely conducting valuable astronomical and aeronomical observations from high-performance, two-seater military-type aircraft. The SWUIS-A (Southwest Universal Imaging System - Airborne) system consists of an image-intensified CCD camera with broad band response from the near-UV to the near IR, high-quality foreoptics, a miniaturized video recorder, an aircraft-to-camera power and telemetry interface with associated camera controls, and associated cables, filters, and other minor equipment. SWUIS-A's suite of high-quality foreoptics gives it selectable, variable focal length/variable field-of-view capabilities. The SWUIS-A camera frames at 60 Hz video rates, which is a key requirement for both jitter compensation and high time resolution (useful for occultation, lightning, and auroral studies). Broadband SWUIS-A image coadds can exceed a limiting magnitude of V = 10.5 in <1 sec with dark sky conditions. A valuable attribute of SWUIS-A airborne observations is the fact that the astronomer flies with the instrument, thereby providing Space Shuttle-like "payload specialist" capability to "close-the-loop" in real-time on the research done on each research mission. Key advantages of the small, high-performance aircraft on which we can fly SWUIS-A include significant cost savings over larger, more conventional airborne platforms, worldwide basing obviating the need for expensive, campaign-style movement of specialized large aircraft and their logistics support teams, and ultimately faster reaction times to transient events. Compared to ground-based instruments, airborne research platforms offer superior atmospheric transmission, the mobility to reach remote and often-times otherwise unreachable locations over the Earth, and virtually-guaranteed good weather for observing the sky. Compared to space-based instruments, airborne platforms typically offer substantial cost advantages and the freedom to fly along nearly any groundtrack route for transient event tracking such as occultations and eclipses. |
| NASA分類 | Astronomy |
| レポートNO | JSC-CN-6739 |
| 権利 | Copyright, Distribution as joint owner in the copyright |
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