The GIFTS Instrument
GIFTS will fly on an industry-supplied spacecraft,
the "instrument bus" that supports the instrument and
telemetry equipment. The instrument will be equipped with advanced
technologies that will be space tested during the mission.
The mission's technology objectives are to
demonstrate:
- a
cryogenic Michelson interferometer with spatial sampling system
optimized for imaging
- the
large area detector arrays and readouts and associated miniaturized
cryocoolers
- high
speed, ultra-low-power signal processing
- a
radiation-hardened vector processor for onboard real-time signal
processing and data compression
- autonomous
pointing and control systems for precise image stabilization and
feature tracking
- radiation
protection and ultra-low-power electronics
- lightweight
optics and structures to minimize instrument mass
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GIFTS
will be constructed of new lightweight materials to reduce
mass (size and weight). During previous missions, the mass
of FTS instruments——housing, electronics, and their connections——has
been a serious concern. However, GIFTS uses advanced technologies
to integrate the electronics directly onto ultra-light composite
structures of the spacecraft. Use of composite materials will
also provide thermal stability and reduce the areal densities
of the optics used in the telescope.
Radiation shielding of electronics in the
space environment is vitally important. The shielding medium being
used in the GIFTS-IOMI mission will protect the instrument against
proton and electron radiation, absorb slow neutrons, protect against
electromagnetic interference and bleed off accumulated charge buildup.
This may allow the use, in the future, of off-the-shelf (and therefore
of lower cost), state-of-the-art reliable electronic devices that
don't have to undergo costly and time consuming hardening and proofing.
The GIFTS instrument consists of two modules:
sensor and control. Each module performs specific, well defined
functions while complementing one another. The remote sensing capabilities
are augmented by the control technology (continue this page).
Overview | A Joint Mission | The GIFTS Instrument | Instrument Technology Facts
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