Design and construction of a carbon fiber gondola for the SPIDER balloon-borne telescope

J. D. Soler; P. A. R. Ade; M. Amiri; S. J. Benton; J. J. Bock; J. R. Bond; S. A. Bryan; C. Chiang; C. C. Contaldi; B. P. Crill; O. P. Doré; M. Farhang; Jeffrey P. Filippini; L. M. Fissel; A. A. Fraisse; A. E. Gambrel; N. N. Gandilo; S. Golwala; J. E. Gudmundsson; M. Halpern; M. Hasselfield; G. C. Hilton; W. A. Holmes; V. V. Hristov; K. D. Irwin; W. C. Jones; Z. K. Kermish; C.-L. Kuo; C. J. MacTavish; P. V. Mason; K. G. Megerian; L. Moncelsi; T. Morford; J. M. Nagy; C. B. Netterfield; A. S. Rahlin; C. D. Reintsema; J. E. Ruhl; M. C. Runyan; J. A. Shariff; A. Trangsrud; C. Tucker; R. S. Tucker; A. D. Turner; A. C. Weber; D. V. Wiebe; E. Y. Young

doi:10.1117/12.2055413

22 July 2014 Design and construction of a carbon fiber gondola for the SPIDER balloon-borne telescope

J. D. Soler, P. A. R. Ade, M. Amiri, S. J. Benton, J. J. Bock, J. R. Bond, S. A. Bryan, C. Chiang, C. C. Contaldi, B. P. Crill, O. P. Doré, M. Farhang, Jeffrey P. Filippini, L. M. Fissel, A. A. Fraisse, A. E. Gambrel, N. N. Gandilo, S. Golwala, J. E. Gudmundsson, M. Halpern, M. Hasselfield, G. C. Hilton, W. A. Holmes, V. V. Hristov, K. D. Irwin, W. C. Jones, Z. K. Kermish, C.-L. Kuo, C. J. MacTavish, P. V. Mason, K. G. Megerian, L. Moncelsi, T. Morford, J. M. Nagy, C. B. Netterfield, A. S. Rahlin, C. D. Reintsema, J. E. Ruhl, M. C. Runyan, J. A. Shariff, A. Trangsrud, C. Tucker, R. S. Tucker, A. D. Turner, A. C. Weber, D. V. Wiebe, E. Y. Young

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 9145, Ground-based and Airborne Telescopes V; 91450T (2014) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2055413
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2014, Montréal, Quebec, Canada

Abstract

We introduce the light-weight carbon fiber and aluminum gondola designed for the Spider balloon-borne telescope. Spider is designed to measure the polarization of the Cosmic Microwave Background radiation with unprecedented sensitivity and control of systematics in search of the imprint of inflation: a period of exponential expansion in the early Universe. The requirements of this balloon-borne instrument put tight constrains on the mass budget of the payload. The Spider gondola is designed to house the experiment and guarantee its operational and structural integrity during its balloon-borne flight, while using less than 10% of the total mass of the payload. We present a construction method for the gondola based on carbon fiber reinforced polymer tubes with aluminum inserts and aluminum multi-tube joints. We describe the validation of the model through Finite Element Analysis and mechanical tests.

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J. D. Soler, P. A. R. Ade, M. Amiri, S. J. Benton, J. J. Bock, J. R. Bond, S. A. Bryan, C. Chiang, C. C. Contaldi, B. P. Crill, O. P. Doré, M. Farhang, Jeffrey P. Filippini, L. M. Fissel, A. A. Fraisse, A. E. Gambrel, N. N. Gandilo, S. Golwala, J. E. Gudmundsson, M. Halpern, M. Hasselfield, G. C. Hilton, W. A. Holmes, V. V. Hristov, K. D. Irwin, W. C. Jones, Z. K. Kermish, C.-L. Kuo, C. J. MacTavish, P. V. Mason, K. G. Megerian, L. Moncelsi, T. Morford, J. M. Nagy, C. B. Netterfield, A. S. Rahlin, C. D. Reintsema, J. E. Ruhl, M. C. Runyan, J. A. Shariff, A. Trangsrud, C. Tucker, R. S. Tucker, A. D. Turner, A. C. Weber, D. V. Wiebe, and E. Y. Young "Design and construction of a carbon fiber gondola for the SPIDER balloon-borne telescope", Proc. SPIE 9145, Ground-based and Airborne Telescopes V, 91450T (22 July 2014); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2055413

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