The PRISMA payload optomechanical design, a high performance instrument for a new hyperspectral mission

• Published in: Acta astronautica Vol. 65; no. 9; pp. 1429 - 1436
• Main Authors: Labate, Demetrio, Ceccherini, Massimo, Cisbani, Andrea, De Cosmo, Vittorio, Galeazzi, Claudio, Giunti, Lorenzo, Melozzi, Mauro, Pieraccini, Stefano, Stagi, Moreno
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01.11.2009
• Subjects: Hyperspectral; Payload; Satellite; Spectrometer; Satellite; Payload; Spectrometer; Hyperspectral
• ISSN: 0094-5765; 1879-2030
• DOI: 10.1016/j.actaastro.2009.03.077

PRISMA (PRecursore IperSpettrale della Missione Applicativa) hyperspectral instrument is an advanced hyperspectral sensor including a panchromatic camera at medium resolution. The instrument is the focus of the new Earth observation mission that a consortium of Italian companies has started developing under contract of Italian Space Agency. Key features of the instrument are the very high requirement for signal-to-noise and the high quality of data that have to be provided. To meet these demanding figures the optical system has been based on a high transmittance optical system, including a single mirror telescope and two prism spectrometers based on an innovative concept to minimize number of optical elements, while high performance detectors have been chosen for the photon detection. To provide the required data quality for the entire mission lifetime an accurate calibration unit (radiometric and spectral) will be included in the instrument optomechanical assembly. The thermo-mechanical design of the instrument is based on innovative concepts, considering that the use of prism spectrometers implies a tight control of temperature variations to guarantee the stability of all instrument features once in orbit. The presented paper describes the concepts and design principle of the optomechanical assembly of the instrument, at the present status of development.