Off-axis scatter measurement of the Mars reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) Optical Navigation Camera (ONC)

John L. Stauder; Andrew E. Lowman; Dave Thiessen; Darryl Day; D. O. Miles

doi:10.1117/12.619857

26 August 2005 Off-axis scatter measurement of the Mars reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) Optical Navigation Camera (ONC)

John L. Stauder, Andrew E. Lowman, Dave Thiessen, Darryl Day, D. O. Miles

Proceedings Volume 5874, Current Developments in Lens Design and Optical Engineering VI; 58740L (2005) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.619857
Event: Optics and Photonics 2005, 2005, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

The Optical Navigation Camera (ONC) is part of NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) scheduled for an August 2005 launch. The design is a 500 mm focal length, F/8.3 Ritchey-Chretien with a refractive field corrector. Prior to flight, the off-axis performance of the ONC was measured at visible wavelengths in the off-axis scatter facility at the Space Dynamics Laboratory (SDL). This unique facility is designed to minimize scatter from the test setup to prevent data corruption. Testing was conducted in a clean room environment, and the results indicate that no detectable contamination of the optics occurred during testing. Measurements were taken in two time frames to correct an unanticipated stray light path, which occurred just outside of the sensor's field-of-view. The source of the offending path was identified as scatter from the edges of the field corrector lenses. Specifically, scatter from the interface between the flat ground glass and polished surfaces resulted in significant "humps" in the off-axis response centered at ± 1.5°. Retesting showed the removal of the humps, and an overall satisfactory performance of the ONC. The troubleshooting, correction, and lessons learned regarding the above stray light path was reported on in an earlier paper. This paper discusses the measurement process, results, and a comparison to a software prediction and other planetary sensors. The measurement validated the final stray light design and complemented the software analysis.

Citation Download Citation

John L. Stauder, Andrew E. Lowman, Dave Thiessen, Darryl Day, and D. O. Miles "Off-axis scatter measurement of the Mars reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) Optical Navigation Camera (ONC)", Proc. SPIE 5874, Current Developments in Lens Design and Optical Engineering VI, 58740L (26 August 2005); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.619857

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