Session
Technical Session V: Sensors and Instrumentations
Abstract
A Low Cost Earth Sensor (LCES) is under development at Lockheed Missiles & Space Company (LMSC) that will be adaptable to both Geosynchronous (GEO) and Low Earth Orbit (LEO) applications. The LCES is based on the latest pyroelectric detector array technology. It has been designed with a minimum of components, using ASIC and hybrid electronics techniques. The sensor will be contained in a single package with a weight of less than 2.5 pounds and a power requirement of less than 2.0 watts. It can be designed to be fully redundant. There are both low accuracy (± 0.5 deg) and high accuracy (± 0.03 deg) versions. For GEO applications, the Earth is imaged onto an X-shaped focal plane, with the horizons at the mid-points of the arms. Pitch and Roll can be calculated from this horizon location information. For LEO applications, a reflective pyramid is added to the front of the aperture to project the images of the horizon at four locations to the same focal plane positions. The design will be presented along with the results of development testing.
The Development of a Low Cost Earth Sensor
A Low Cost Earth Sensor (LCES) is under development at Lockheed Missiles & Space Company (LMSC) that will be adaptable to both Geosynchronous (GEO) and Low Earth Orbit (LEO) applications. The LCES is based on the latest pyroelectric detector array technology. It has been designed with a minimum of components, using ASIC and hybrid electronics techniques. The sensor will be contained in a single package with a weight of less than 2.5 pounds and a power requirement of less than 2.0 watts. It can be designed to be fully redundant. There are both low accuracy (± 0.5 deg) and high accuracy (± 0.03 deg) versions. For GEO applications, the Earth is imaged onto an X-shaped focal plane, with the horizons at the mid-points of the arms. Pitch and Roll can be calculated from this horizon location information. For LEO applications, a reflective pyramid is added to the front of the aperture to project the images of the horizon at four locations to the same focal plane positions. The design will be presented along with the results of development testing.
