ICESat-2 program: PLX vacuum-compatible Lateral Transfer Hollow Retroreflector.
November 28, 2014 00:00
ICESat-2 program: PLX vacuum-compatible Lateral Transfer Hollow Retroreflector with a 5” aperture, 18.5” separation and 1 arc second accuracy.
ICESat-2 is NASA’s Ice, Cloud and Land Elevation Satellite scheduled for launch in 2017. The mission of the satellite is to deploy a spaceborne sensor to collect altimetry data of the Earth’s surface optimized to measure ice sheet elevation change and sea ice thickness, while generating an estimate of global vegetation biomass.
The sole instrument on ICESat-2 will be the Advanced Topographic Laser Altimeter System or ATLAS. The ATLAS laser will emit visible, green laser at a wavelength of 532nm. AS ICESat-2 orbits, ATLAS will split the laser into 6 beams, arranged in 3 pairs, with 3.3km between pairs. It will fire at a rate of 10kHz - 10,000 times per second.
PLX manufactured a vacuum-compatible Lateral Transfer Hollow Retroreflector with a 5” aperture, 18.5” separation and 1 arc second accuracy for the ICESat-2 program. It will be used for boresighting and performance testing of ATLAS.
References:
- http://icesat.gsfc.nasa.gov/icesat2/
- http://icesat.gsfc.nasa.gov/icesat2/instrument.php
- http://www.orbital.com/SatelliteSpaceSystems/Publications/ICESat-2_factsheet.pdf
Related News:
- Geophysics Interferometer: Long-baseline laser strainmeter system installed in 1 kM deep tunnel in Japan uses PLX 15” clear aperture Hollow Retroreflector.
- Canadian Astro-H Metrology System (CAMS) Program: PLX Invar-mounted hard mount retroreflectors with 1.94” clear aperture and 0.5-arc second accuracy.
- Environmental Monitoring Program: New PLX retroreflectors with stand up to 800 degrees F.
