Ms. Simona Errico Profile

Simona Errico

at Univ of Arizona

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Proceedings Article | 5 March 2003 Paper

Harnessing solar pressure to slew and point large infrared space telescopes

Simona Errico, Roger Angel, Paul Calvert, Neville Woof

Proceedings Volume 4850, (2003) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.461766

KEYWORDS: Space telescopes, Telescopes, Space operations, Infrared telescopes, Control systems, Adhesives, Sun, Ferroelectric polymers, Infrared radiation, Solar radiation

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Large astronomical Gossamer telescopes in space will need to employ large solar shields to safeguard the optics from solar radiation. These types of telescopes demand accurate controls to maintain telescope pointing over long integration periods. We propose an active solar shield system that harnesses radiation pressure to accurately slew and acquire new targets without the need for reaction wheels or thrusters. To provide the required torques, the solar shield is configured as an inverted, 4-sided pyramidal roof. The sloped roof interior surfaces are covered with hinged “tiles” made from piezoelectric film bimorphs with specular metallized surfaces. Nominally, the tiles lie flat against the roof and the sunlight is reflected outward equally from all sloped surfaces. However, when the tiles on one roof pitch are raised, the pressure balance is upset and the sunshade is pushed to one side. By judicious selection of the tiles and control of their lift angle, the solar pressure can be harvested to stabilize the spacecraft orientation or to change its angular momentum. A first order conceptual design performance analysis and the results from the experimental design, fabrication and testing of piezoelectric bimorph hinge elements will be presented. Next phase challenges in engineering design, materials technology, and systems testing will be discussed.

Proceedings Article | 18 December 2002 Paper

Stretched membrane with electrostatic curvature (SMEC) mirrors: a new technology for large lightweight space telescopes

Simona Errico, James Roger Angel, Brian Stamper, James Burge, Tom Connors

Proceedings Volume 4849, (2002) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.457349

KEYWORDS: Mirrors, Space telescopes, Actuators, Electrodes, Control systems, Wavefronts, Telescopes, Space mirrors, Image segmentation

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Exploration of faint distant objects in space has been limited by the power of telescopes. Currently our only option for studying these remote objects is to build larger and better telescopes. These giant telescopes are often constrained by system mass, which is dominated by the primary mirror. It appears that the evolutionary path of using conventional technology to build giant mirrors will not be sufficient to meet the small areal density of approximately 1.5 kg/m². Therefore the development of large primary mirrors for space is dependent on innovative approaches and new technology. One approach to building a large primary reflector is to use smaller individual segments and place them along a curve approximating a paraboloid. These smaller segments could be comprised of either flat or curved thin membrane mirrors. These thin membrane mirrors have the potential of meeting the small areal density requirement. We have started development on a thin membrane mirror. We have built and are testing a 6 inch stretched membrane mirror prototype that uses electrostatic pressure to pull the nominally flat mirror to a 32 m radius of curvature and adaptively correct for aberrations. Preliminary test results of the flat membrane are promising. The surface error for the flat membrane was measured to better than λ/10 rms for the center four inches and λ/20 rms over the central three inches. The interferograms for the curved membrane show a residual figure-eight pattern of high order astigmatism, most likely due to tension anisotropy in the mirror. Analysis on the fully curved mirror is still on-going. This paper discusses the SMEC design, development, test results, and current on-going activities.

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