System-wide design issues for the stellar interferometer technology experiment (SITE)

David W. Miller; Samuel L. Crawford; T. Tupper Hyde; Brett P. Masters; Edward F. Crawley; Gary H. Blackwood; M. Mark Colavita; Jeffrey W. Yu; Michael Shao; Robert A. Laskin

doi:10.1117/12.212998

26 June 1995 System-wide design issues for the stellar interferometer technology experiment (SITE)

David W. Miller, Samuel L. Crawford, T. Tupper Hyde, Brett P. Masters, Edward F. Crawley, Gary H. Blackwood, M. Mark Colavita, Jeffrey W. Yu, Michael Shao, Robert A. Laskin

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 2477, Spaceborne Interferometry II; (1995) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.212998
Event: SPIE's 1995 Symposium on OE/Aerospace Sensing and Dual Use Photonics, 1995, Orlando, FL, United States

Abstract

The Stellar Interferometer Technology Experiment (SITE) is a near-term precursor mission for spaceborne optical interferometry. Proposed by the MIT Space Engineering Research Center and NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, SITE is a two-aperture stellar interferometer located in the payload bay of the Space Shuttle. It has a baseline of four meters, operates with a detection bandwidth of 300 nanometers in the visible spectrum, and consists of three optical benches kinematically mounted inside a precision truss structure. The objective of SITE is to demonstrate system-level functionality of a space-based stellar interferometer through the use of enabling and enhancing Controlled Structures Technologies such as vibration isolation and suppression. Moreover, SITE will validate, in the space environment, technologies such as optical delay lines, laser metrology systems, fringe detectors, active fringe trackers, and high- bandwidth pointing control systems which are critical for realizing future space-based astrometric and imaging interferometers.

Citation Download Citation

David W. Miller, Samuel L. Crawford, T. Tupper Hyde, Brett P. Masters, Edward F. Crawley, Gary H. Blackwood, M. Mark Colavita, Jeffrey W. Yu, Michael Shao, and Robert A. Laskin "System-wide design issues for the stellar interferometer technology experiment (SITE)", Proc. SPIE 2477, Spaceborne Interferometry II, (26 June 1995); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.212998

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