The CHEOPS space mission will measure photometric transits of exo-planets with a precision of 20 ppm in 6 hours of integration time on a 9th magnitude star. This corresponds to a signal-to-noise ratio of 5 for a transit of an Earth-sized planet orbiting a solar-sized star. Achieving the precision goal requires precise on-ground calibration of the payload to remove its signature from the raw data while in flight. A sophisticated calibration system will inject a stimulus beam in the payload and measure its response to the variation of electrical and environmental parameters. These variations will be compiled in a correction model. At the very end of the testing phase, the CHEOPS photometric performance will be assessed on an artificial star, applying the correction model This paper addresses some original details of the CHEOPS calibration bench and its performance as measured in the lab.

Date Published: 29 July 2016
PDF: 9 pages
Proc. SPIE 9904, Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2016: Optical, Infrared, and Millimeter Wave, 990438 (29 July 2016); doi: 10.1117/12.2234263

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 9904:
Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2016: Optical, Infrared, and Millimeter Wave
Howard A. MacEwen; Giovanni G. Fazio; Makenzie Lystrup; Natalie Batalha; Nicholas Siegler; Edward C. Tong, Editor(s)