Paper 13094-136
The exoplanet climate infrared telescope (EXCITE): gondola pointing and stabilization qualification
Abstract
High precision sub-arcsecond pointing stability has become a capability widely utilized in the balloon-borne community, in particular for high resolution optical systems. However, many of these applications are also pushing the state-of-the-art with regards to detector technology, many forms of which require some level of cryogenic cooling and active dissipative cooling systems to achieve target performance specifications. Built on the success of the Super-pressure Balloon-borne Imaging Telescope (SuperBIT) experiment, we present the results of improved technologies and design methodologies applied to the EXoplanet Infrared TElescope (EXCITE), which uses active cryogenic systems to achieve detector performance while requiring pointing stability at the 100 milliarcsecond level. Results from EXCITE's recent balloon-borne campaign are presented within the context of Super-pressure Balloon (SPB) and Long Duration Balloon (LDB) applications.
Presenter
L. Javier Romualdez
StarSpec Technologies Inc. (Canada)
Dr. Javier Romualdez has a PhD in Aerospace Science and Engineering with a specialty in control systems for high-precision space-based optical systems. He is co-founder of StarSpec Technologies, which provides hardware and data solutions for next-generation space-based imaging applications in astronomy, earth observation, and space-situational awareness.