Coupled thermo-elastic and optical performance analyses of a reflective baffle for the BepiColombo laser altimeter (BELA) receiver

E. Heesel; T. Weigel; P. Lochmatter; E. Rugi Grond

doi:10.1117/12.2308252

21 November 2017 Coupled thermo-elastic and optical performance analyses of a reflective baffle for the BepiColombo laser altimeter (BELA) receiver

E. Heesel, T. Weigel, P. Lochmatter, E. Rugi Grond

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Proceedings Volume 10566, International Conference on Space Optics — ICSO 2008; 105661W (2017) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2308252
Event: International Conference on Space Optics 2008, 2008, Toulouse, France

Abstract

For the BepiColombo mission, the extreme thermal environment around Mercury requires good heat shields for the instruments. The BepiColombo Laser altimeter (BELA) Receiver will be equipped with a specular reflective baffle in order to limit the solar power impact. The design uses a Stavroudis geometry with alternating elliptical and hyperbolic vanes to reflect radiation at angles >38° back into space. The thermal loads on the baffle lead to deformations, and the resulting changes in the optical performance can be modeled by ray-tracing. Conventional interfaces, such as Zernike surface fitting, fail to provide a proper import of the mechanical distortions into optical models. We have studied alternative models such as free form surface representations and compared them to a simple modeling approach with straight segments. The performance merit is presented in terms of the power rejection ratio and the absence of specular stray-light.

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E. Heesel, T. Weigel, P. Lochmatter, and E. Rugi Grond "Coupled thermo-elastic and optical performance analyses of a reflective baffle for the BepiColombo laser altimeter (BELA) receiver", Proc. SPIE 10566, International Conference on Space Optics — ICSO 2008, 105661W (21 November 2017); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2308252

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