Code 810: Sounding Rockets Program Office
Code 810: Sounding Rockets Program Office
36.225 UG CHAKRABARTI - PICTURE - THE FIRST OF ITS KIND MISSION 2-15-2007
The Planet Imaging Concept Testbed Using a Rocket Experiment (PICTURE) is
a first of its kind mission. PICTURE, with an anticipated launch window
in July 2007, will attempt to image an exoplanet for the first time. This
is made possible by advanced telescope technology, as well as, a new Attitude
Control System (ACS) for Sounding Rockets. The primary mirror to be used
on PICTURE was at Wallops Flight Facility for vibration testing in February
2007.
Image
on right. Telescope mirror mounted on the thrust axis vibration table
at Wallops Flight Facility.
Mounting the mirror to the vibration table is delicate work. Keeping the surface clean of dust particles is important and protective clothing and masks are mandatory when working with optics. All vibration tests were successfully completed and the mirror will go through optics testing at Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt campus. Upon completion of the testing, the mirror will be sent to Boston University for integration with the other components of the science instrument.
Image
on right. NASA scientists and engineers mounting the telescope mirror
to the vibration table.
Visit SPIE Newsroom for an article by Dr. Rabin et al. describing the mirror.
Mission Information
A team of scientists, lead by Dr. Chakrabarti of Boston University and including members from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center and Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technolgoy, and Boston Micromachines Incorporate, are embarking on a truly first of it's kind mission - Planet Imaging Concept Testbed Using a Rocket Experiment (PICTURE). They will attempt to acquire the first ever direct image of an exoplanet.
The planet, Epsilon Eridani b, is 1.55 +/- 0.24 the size of Jupiter and is orbiting the star Epsilon Eridani, completing an orbit around the star once every 2,500 days.Epsilon Eridani is close to our own solar system, only 10.5 light years away, in the constellation Eridanus, the River. The star is about 0.8 solar masses and is visible to the naked eye.
Sounding Rocket Mission Profile
The PICTURE payload will be launched using a Terrier-Black Brant sounding rocket from White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. This complex mission requires a highly sophisticated alignment profile, starting with aiming the telescope at Rigel (bright star in the constellation Orion) for calibration and then turning it toward Epsilon Eridani for observation of the planet. These events will take place in about eight minutes, while the payload is above 100 km altitude. A new Attitude Control System (ACS) with high pointing accuracy will be used on the PICTURE mission.
