Front cover for space optical telescopes. a legacy from ROSETTA to JUICE

Front cover for space optical telescopes. a legacy from ROSETTA to JUICE

G. Parzianello, M. Bartolomei, S. Chiodini, M. Zaccariotto, G. Colombatti, A. Aboudan, C. Bettanini, S. Debei

Abstract. The reliability of a telescope’s front cover for a space mission constitutes its primary demand, not to compromise the functionality of the entire instrument. Avoidance to expose possible reference surfaces to the external environment and contamination often drives the selection of the motion of the cover. The Front Door Mechanism (FDM) for the OSIRIS experiment of the ROSETTA mission has been developed and optimised to provide protection of the telescope, reliable functioning and being single point failure tolerant. Its combined translational and rotational motion allowed also the preservation of internal calibration surface for the entire duration of the mission. The ROSETTA mission was launched in 2004 and reached the comet in 2014 after several gravity assists, and deep space hibernation. It has been orbiting around the comet for roughly two years collecting enormous amount of data of the peculiar celestial body and ended in September 2016. As legacy of the successful design of the front cover for the ROSETTA mission, another cover mechanics (Cover Mechanism – COM) for the JANUS Optical Head Unit of the JUICE mission has been prepared with minor modifications to the initial design. All qualification has been performed and the JUICE mission has been launched successfully on 14 April 2023 and is now travelling towards Jupiter and its moons.

Keywords
Front Door, Cover, Telescope, Space Mechanism, Rosetta, JUICE

Published online 11/1/2023, 5 pages
Copyright © 2023 by the author(s)
Published under license by Materials Research Forum LLC., Millersville PA, USA

Citation: G. Parzianello, M. Bartolomei, S. Chiodini, M. Zaccariotto, G. Colombatti, A. Aboudan, C. Bettanini, S. Debei, Front cover for space optical telescopes. a legacy from ROSETTA to JUICE, Materials Research Proceedings, Vol. 37, pp 725-729, 2023

DOI: https://doi.org/10.21741/9781644902813-155

The article was published as article 155 of the book Aeronautics and Astronautics

Content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license. Any further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI.

References
[1] H. U. Keller, C. Barbieri, P. Lamy et al., “OSIRIS – The scientific camera system onboard Rosetta”, Space Science Reviews 128(1): 433-506 – February 2007
[2] S. Debei, M. De Cecco, G. Parzianello, A. Francesconi, F Angrilli, “Design, Qualification and Acceptance of the Front Door Mechanism for the OSIRIS experiment of ROSETTA mission”, International Symposium on Optical Science and Technology – 9th September 2002– Seattle, WA (USA) – Proceedings Volume 4771. https://doi.org/10.1117/12.482161
[3] G. Parzianello, S. Debei, F. Angrilli, “Reliability oriented design and testing of a telescope’s front cover for long life space missions”, 54th Congress of the International Astronautical Federation (IAF) – 29 September – 03 October 2003 – Bremen, Germany. https://doi.org/10.2514/6.IAC-03-I.P.10
[4] F. Preusker, F. Scholten et al, “The global meter-level shape model of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko”, Astronomy & Astrophysics, Vol 607, L1 (2017).
[5] H. Sierks et al., “E-type asteroid (2867) steins as imaged by OSIRIS on board Rosetta”, Science, vol. 327, no. 5962, pp. 190-193, 2010. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1179559
[6] H. Sierks et al., “On the nucleus structure and activity of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko”, Science, vol. 347, no. 6220, January 2015.
[7] A. Accomazzo, P. Ferri, S. Lodiot, J.L. Pellon-Bailon, A. Hubault, J. Urbanek, et al., “The final year of the Rosetta mission”, Acta Astronautica, vol. 136, pp. 354-359, July 2017. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actaastro.2017.03.027
[8] Della Corte, Vincenzo, et al. “Scientific objectives of JANUS Instrument onboard JUICE mission and key technical solutions for its Optical Head.” 2019 IEEE 5th International workshop on metrology for aerospace (MetroAeroSpace). IEEE, 2019. https://doi.org/10.1109/MetroAeroSpace.2019.8869584