Measurement of the particulate and water vapor contamination environments of the Midcourse Space Experiment (MSX) spacecraft

Gary E. Galica; John J. Atkinson; Giuseppe Aurilio; Orr Shepherd; Jeffrey C. Lesho; Mark T. Boies; Kevin J. Heffernan; Patrick J. McEvaddy; O. Manuel Uy

doi:10.1117/12.190144

19 October 1994 Measurement of the particulate and water vapor contamination environments of the Midcourse Space Experiment (MSX) spacecraft

Gary E. Galica, John J. Atkinson, Giuseppe Aurilio, Orr Shepherd, Jeffrey C. Lesho, Mark T. Boies, Kevin J. Heffernan, Patrick J. McEvaddy, O. Manuel Uy

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 2261, Optical System Contamination: Effects, Measurements, and Control IV; (1994) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.190144
Event: SPIE's 1994 International Symposium on Optics, Imaging, and Instrumentation, 1994, San Diego, CA, United States

Abstract

We have designed, fabricated, and tested two flashlamp-based instruments that will characterize the particulate and water vapor contamination environments aboard the Midcourse Space Experiment (MSX) spacecraft: the Xenon Flashlamp and the Krypton Radiometer. These instruments will operate as part of suite of instruments to monitor the MSX contamination environment over its five-year mission. The Xenon Flashlamp illuminates particles in the field of view of the UVISI Wide Field of View Visible Imager, which in turn measures the scattered radiation. The particle measurement can detect particles smaller than 1 micrometers and can measure cross-field particle velocities from 0.5 cm/sec to 50 m/sec. The Krypton Radiometer measures the local water vapor density. VUV radiation from an array of RF-excited krypton lamps photodissociates H₂O in the fields of view of a filtered radiometer and one of the UVISI Spectrographic Imagers. The radiometer and the spectrograph simultaneously measure the intensity of the resulting OH chemiluminescence. The H₂O density is proportional to that intensity. The spectrograph will provide a positive identification of the radiating species. Instrument descriptions as well as ground test and simulation data are presented.

Citation Download Citation

Gary E. Galica, John J. Atkinson, Giuseppe Aurilio, Orr Shepherd, Jeffrey C. Lesho, Mark T. Boies, Kevin J. Heffernan, Patrick J. McEvaddy, and O. Manuel Uy "Measurement of the particulate and water vapor contamination environments of the Midcourse Space Experiment (MSX) spacecraft", Proc. SPIE 2261, Optical System Contamination: Effects, Measurements, and Control IV, (19 October 1994); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.190144

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available