Next Generation Space Telescope. I: Design Considerations
This article has a reply.
VIEW THE REPLYPublication: Journal of Aerospace Engineering
Volume 7, Issue 4
Abstract
The pointing control system of the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) represents the current state of the art for the precision control of a large spacecraft. The proposed Next Generation Space Telescope (NGST) will require an order‐of‐magnitude increase in pointing resolution over that of HST. The use of active optics in the form of a steerable secondary mirror has been proposed for NGST in order to satisfy these requirements. An introduction to some of the design concepts associated with the design of the NGST, including a description of the proposed vehicle, a description of the pertinent design parameters, and a description of the types of disturbances to which it may be subjected, is given herein. A companion paper provides a description of a feasibility study conducted to evaluate the use of a control system for the implementation of “beam steering” to compensate for the motion of the vehicle without necessitating the reorientation of the whole structure.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
References
1.
Bahcall, J. N. (1991). The decade of discovery in astronomy and astrophysics. National Academy Press, Washington, D.C.
2.
Bahcall, J. N., and Soneira, R. M. (1982). “Predicted star counts in selected fields and photometric bands: applications to galactic structure, the disk luminosity function, and the detection of massive halo.” Astrophysical J. Supplement, 47, 357–401.
3.
Bély, P. Y., and May, B. S. (1992). “The pointing stability of the Hubble Space Telescope and proposed concepts for the pointing control of the Next Generation Space Telescope (NGST).” Proc. Conf. Int. Federation Automatic Control. Munich, Germany, Sep.
4.
Dougherty, H., Tomptetrini, K., Levinthal, J., and Nurre, G. (1982). “Space telescope pointing control system.” J. Guidance, 5(4).
5.
Eisenhardt, P., and Werner, M. W. (1989). “Advantages of high vs. low earth orbit for SIRTF.” Proc. NGST Conf., P. Y. Bély, C. J. Burrows, and G. D. Illingworth, eds., Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, Md., Sep. 13–15, 31–36.
6.
Hughes, P. C. (1986). Spacecraft attitude dynamics. J. Wiley, New York, N.Y.
7.
Illingworth, G. D. (1989). “The next generation UV‐visible‐IR space telescope.” Proc. NGST Conf., B. Y. Bély, C. J. Burrows, and G. D. Illingworth, eds., Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, Md., Sep. 13–15, 31–36.
8.
Lockheed Missiles and Space Company. (1985). “Minutes of the seventh meeting‐space telescope dynamics and loads systems review panel.” Rep. No. FO24198, Lockheed Missiles and Space Company, Sunnydale, Calif.
9.
May, B. S. (1992). “Preliminary study of the pointing control system for the next generation space telescope,” MSc thesis, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Md.
10.
May, B. S., and Jones, N. P. (1994). “The next generation space telescope. II: Proposed Pointing Control System.” J. Aerosp. Engrg., ASCE, 7(4), 375–397.
11.
Neill, J. D., Bély, P. Y., Miller, G., and Spigler, A. (1989). “Orbital sites tradeoff study.” Proc. NGST Conf., Bély, Burrows, and Illingworth, eds., Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, Md., Sep. 13–15, 31–36.
12.
Roark, R. J. (1975). Formulas for stress and strain. 5th Ed, McGraw‐Hill, New York, N.Y.
13.
Schroeder, D. J. (1987). Astronomical optics. Academic Press Inc., San Diego, Calif.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Copyright
Copyright © 1994 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Sep 28, 1992
Published online: Oct 1, 1994
Published in print: Oct 1994
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.