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Results for “metrology space interferometry mission interferometry”

Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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NASA NTRS2004

Metrology system for the Terrestrial Planet Finder Coronagraph

The Terrestrial Planet Finder (TPF) employs an aggressive coronagraph designed to obtain better than 1e-10 contrast inside the third Airy ring. Minute changes in low-order aberration content scatter significant light at this position. One implication is the requirement to control low-order aberrations induced by motion of the secondary mirror relative to the primary mirror; sub-nanometer relative positional stability is required. We propose a 6-beam laser truss to monitor the relative positions of the two mirrors. The truss is based on laser metrology developed for the Space Interferometry Mission.

Terrestrial Planet Finder (TPF)↗
NASA NTRS2004

Search for general relativistic effects in table-top displacement metrology

As displacement metrology accuracy improves, general relativistic effects will become noticeable. Metrology gauges developed for the Space Interferometry Mission, were used to search for locally anisotropic space-time, with a null result at the 10 to the negative 10th power level.

displacement metrology↗
NASA NTRS2004

Search for general relativistic effects in table-top displacement metrology

As displacement metrology accuracy improves, general relativistic effects will become noticeable. Metrology gauges developed for the Space Interferometry Mission were used to search for locally anisotropic space-time, with a null result at the 10 to the negative tenth power level.

displacement metrology↗
NASA NTRS2004

Error Modeling of Multi-baseline Optical Truss: Application to SIM Metrology Truss Field Dependent Error - Part II

The current design of the Space Interferometry Mission (SIM) employs a 19 laser-metrology-beam system (also called L19 external metrology truss) to monitor changes of distances between the fiducials of the flight system's multiple baselines. The function of the external metrology truss is to aid in the determination of the time-variations of the interferometer baseline. The largest contributor to truss error occurs in SIM wide-angle observations when the articulation of the siderostat mirrors (in order to gather starlight from different sky coordinates) brings to light systematic errors due to offsets at levels of instrument components (which include comer cube retro-reflectors, etc.). This error is labeled external metrology wide-angle field-dependent error. Physics-based model of field-dependent error at single metrology gauge level is developed and linearly propagated to errors in interferometer delay. In this manner delay error sensitivity to various error parameters or their combination can be studied using eigenvalue/eigenvector analysis. Also validation of physics-based field-dependent model on SIM testbed lends support to the present approach. As a first example, dihedral error model is developed for the comer cubes (CC) attached to the siderostat mirrors. Then the delay errors due to this effect can be characterized using the eigenvectors of composite CC dihedral error. The essence of the linear error model is contained in an error-mapping matrix. A corresponding Zernike component matrix approach is developed in parallel, first for convenience of describing the RMS of errors across the field-of-regard (FOR), and second for convenience of combining with additional models. Average and worst case residual errors are computed when various orders of field-dependent terms are removed from the delay error. Results of the residual errors are important in arriving at external metrology system component requirements. Double CCs with ideally co-incident vertices reside with the siderostat. The non-common vertex error (NCVE) is treated as a second example. Finally combination of models, and various other errors are discussed.

comer cube retro-reflector↗
NASA NTRS2006

Results from the TOM3 testbed: thermal deformation of optics at the picometer Level

We have discussed the TOM3 testbed developed to assess the thermo-opto-mechanical stability of optical assembly such as SIM's siderostat and telescope in flight-like thermal conditions. Although limited by the metrology sensor noise, test results show that optical wavefront stability of SIM's optical assembly is compatible with single micro-arcsecond astrometry.

Space Interferometer Mission (SIM)↗
NASA NTRS2008

Metrology Optical Power Budgeting in SIM Using Statistical Analysis Techniques

The Space Interferometry Mission (SIM) is a space-based stellar interferometry instrument, consisting of up to three interferometers, which will be capable of micro-arc second resolution. Alignment knowledge of the three interferometer baselines requires a three-dimensional, 14-leg truss with each leg being monitored by an external metrology gauge. In addition, each of the three interferometers requires an internal metrology gauge to monitor the optical path length differences between the two sides. Both external and internal metrology gauges are interferometry based, operating at a wavelength of 1319 nanometers. Each gauge has fiber inputs delivering measurement and local oscillator (LO) power, split into probe-LO and reference-LO beam pairs. These beams experience power loss due to a variety of mechanisms including, but not restricted to, design efficiency, material attenuation, element misalignment, diffraction, and coupling efficiency. Since the attenuation due to these sources may degrade over time, an accounting of the range of expected attenuation is needed so an optical power margin can be book kept. A method of statistical optical power analysis and budgeting, based on a technique developed for deep space RF telecommunications, is described in this paper and provides a numerical confidence level for having sufficient optical power relative to mission metrology performance requirements.

stellar interferometry↗
NASA NTRS2002

SIM: An end-to-end simulation of the Space Interferometer Mission

We present the basic elements and first results of an end-to-end simulation package whose purpose is to test the validity of the Space Interferometer Mission design. The fundamental simulation time step is one millisecond, with substructure at 118 ms, and the total duration of the simulation is five years. The end product of a given wide-angle astrometry run is an estimated grid star catalog over the entire sky with an accuracy of about 4 micro-arcseconds.

SIM Space Interferometer Mission Space telescopes ↗
NASA NTRS2002

SIM technolgy development overview - light at the end of the tunnel

Optical and infrared interferometry will open new vistas for astronomy over the next decade. Space based interferometers, operating unfettered by the Earth's atmosphere, will offer the greatest scientific payoff. They also present the greatest technological challenge: laser metrology systems must perform with sub-nanometer precision; mechanical vibrations must be controlled to nanometers requiring orders of magnitude disturbance rejection; a multitude of actuators and sensors must operate flawlessly and in concert. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory along with its industry partners are addressing these challenges with a development program that plans to establish technology readiness for the Space Interferometry Mission by end of 2004.

interferometry↗
NASA NTRS2000

Observational Model for Precision Astrometry with the Space Interferometry Mission

The Space Interferometry Mission (SIM) is a space-based 10-m baseline Michelson optical interferometer operating in the visible waveband that is designed to achieve astrometric accuracy in the single digits of the microarcsecond domain. Over a narrow field of view SIM is expected to achieve a mission accuracy of 1 microarcsecond. In this mode SIM will search for planetary companions to nearby stars by detecting the astrometric "wobble" relative to a nearby reference star. In its wide-angle mode, SIM will provide 4 microarcsecond precision absolute position measurements of stars, with parallaxes to comparable accuracy, at the end of its 5-year mission. The expected proper motion accuracy is around 3 microarcsecond/year, corresponding to a transverse velocity of 10 m/ s at a distance of 1 kpc. The basic astrometric observable of the SIM instrument is the pathlength delay. This measurement is made by a combination of internal metrology measurements that determine the distance the starlight travels through the two arms of the interferometer, and a measurement of the white light stellar fringe to find the point of equal pathlength. Because this operation requires a non-negligible integration time, the interferometer baseline vector is not stationary over this time period, as its absolute length and orientation are time varying. This paper addresses how the time varying baseline can be "regularized" so that it may act as a single baseline vector for multiple stars, as required for the solution of the astrometric equations.

TILE OBSERVATIONS↗
NASA NTRS2006

Results from SIM's Thermo-Opto-Mechanical (TOM3) Testbed

Future space-based optical interferometers, such as the Space Interferometer Mission Planet Quest (SIM), require thermal stability of the optical wavefront to the level of picometers in order to produce astrometric data at the micro-arc-second level. In SIM, the internal path of the interferometer will be measured with a small metrology beam whereas the starlight fringe position is estimated from a large concentric annular beam. To achieve the micro-arc-second observation goal for SIM, it is necessary to maintain the optical path difference between the central and the outer annulus portions of the wavefront of the front-end telescope optics to a few tens of picometers. The Thermo-Opto-Mecha nical testbed (TOM3) was developed at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory to measure thermally induced optical deformations of a full-size flight-like beam compressor and siderostat, the two largest optics on SIM, in flight-like thermal environments. A Common Path Heterodyne Interferometer (COPHI) developed at JPL was used for the fine optical path difference measurement as the metrology sensor. The system was integrated inside a large vacuum chamber in order to mitigate the atmospheric and thermal disturbances. The siderostat was installed in a temperature-controlled thermal shroud inside the vacuum chamber, creating a flight-like thermal environment. Detailed thermal and structural models of the test articles (siderostat and compressor) were also developed for model prediction and correlation of the thermal deformations. Experimental data shows SIM required thermal stability of the test articles and good agreement with the model predictions.

interferometry↗
NASA NTRS1999

A Multichannel Averaging Phasemeter for Picometer Precision Laser Metrology

The Micro-Arcsecond Metrology (MAM) team at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory has developed a precision phasemeter for the Space Interferometry Mission (SIM). The current version of the phasemeter is well-suited for picometer accuracy distance measurements and tracks at speeds up to 50 cm/sec, when coupled to SIM's 1.3 micron wavelength heterodyne laser metrology gauges. Since the phasemeter is implemented with industry standard FPGA chips, other accuracy/speed trade-off points can be programmed for applications such as metrology for earth-based long-baseline astronomical interferometry (planet finding), and industrial applications such as translation stage and machine tool positioning. The phasemeter is a standard VME module, supports 6 metrology gauges, a 128 MHz clock, has programmable hardware averaging, and a maximum range of 232 cycles (2000 meters at 1.3 microns).

Halverson, Peter G.↗
NASA NTRS2003

Optical path control in the MAM testbed

The Micro-Arcsecond Metrology (MAM) experiment is one of a family of ground-based testbeds that will demonstrate critical technologies for SIM, the Space Interferometry Mission.

optical interferometers optical path MAM testbed M↗