Study on planetary atmospheres and plasmas by a balloon-borne telescope

这项研究促进了正在进行的用于遥感行星大气和等离子体的球载望远镜系统的开发。在该系统中，一个施密特-卡塞格伦望远镜与300毫米的净孔径安装在吊舱，其姿态控制的控制力矩陀螺，一个主动解耦电机，和太阳敏感器。平底船可以在平流层中漂浮超过一周。通过以下三级指向装置的协同操作，将实现10角秒/秒的指向稳定性：座舱姿态控制系统、用于粗引导的双轴望远镜万向节和用于引导误差校正的倾斜/倾斜镜架。倾翻/倾斜镜由来自位置敏感光电倍增管的实时校正信号控制。分别用模拟和数字CCD摄像机获得了目标在近红外和紫外波段的视频图像。电力由太阳能电池板和镍氢电池提供，其中低温特性已经过测试。一个加压单元包含两台PC、DC/DC转换器、前置放大器和一个用于倾斜镜安装的高压电源。通过热真空试验验证了系统在低温低压条件下的性能。对瑞典基律纳的ESRANGE进行了调查，以确定其是否是未来在北极进行试验的候选发射场。该系统的第一个目标是金星。金星高层大气中的风矢量将通过跟踪在紫外线和近红外区域观测到的云的模式来获得。计划于2007年6月在日本进行一次旨在测试系统性能的实验，并计划于2008年在北极进行一次长时间飞行。

This research has promoted the ongoing development of a balloon-borne telescope system for remote sensing of planetary atmospheres and plasmas. In this system, a Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope with a 300-mm clear aperture is mounted on a gondola whose attitude is controlled by control moment gyros, an active decoupling motor, and a Sun sensor. The gondola can float in the stratosphere for periods in excess of 1 week. A pointing stability of 10 arcsec/sec will be achieved via the cooperative operation of the following three-stage pointing devices: a gondola-attitude control system, two-axis telescope gimbals for coarse guiding, and a tip/tilt mirror mount for guiding error correction. The tip/tilt mirror is controlled by a real-time correction signal from a position-sensitive photomultiplier tube. Video images of an object in near-infrared and ultraviolet are obtained by analog and digital CCD video cameras, respectively. Power is supplied by solar cell panels and Ni-MH batteries, of which low temperature characteristics have been tested. A pressurized cell contains two PCs, DC/DC converters, pre-amplifiers and a high-voltage power supply for a tip/tilt mirror mount. System performance under a low-temperature and low-pressure condition has been confirmed by a thermal vacuum test. ESRANGE in Kiruna, Sweden was investigated for a candidate launch site of a future experiment in the Arctic. The first target for the system is Venus. Wind vectors in the Venusian upper atmosphere will be derived from the tracking of cloud patterns observed in the ultraviolet and near-infrared regions. An experiment designed to test the system performance is scheduled to take place in Japan during June 2007, and a long-duration flight in the Arctic is scheduled for 2008.