Engineering design of the Wide-Field Infrared Explorer (WIRE)

David G. Elliott; Perry B. Hacking; Helene R. Schember

doi:10.1117/12.185829

14 September 1994 Engineering design of the Wide-Field Infrared Explorer (WIRE)

David G. Elliott, Perry B. Hacking, Helene R. Schember

Proceedings Volume 2268, Infrared Spaceborne Remote Sensing II; (1994) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.185829
Event: SPIE's 1994 International Symposium on Optics, Imaging, and Instrumentation, 1994, San Diego, CA, United States

Abstract

The Wide-Field Infrared Explorer is a cryogenically-cooled infrared telescope designed to study the evolution of starburst galaxies. This survey mission, proposed as part of the NASA Small Explorer program, takes advantage of recent advances in infrared detector technology to detect distant galaxies in 12 and 25 micrometers wavelength bands. The WIRE instrument is designed to be integrated with a spacecraft bus provided by Goddard Space Flight Center and launched into a 500 km orbit on a Pegasus XL launch vehicle. Most of the mission will be split between a moderate depth survey requiring 14 minutes exposure time per field and a deep survey requiring 4-8 hours per field. The WIRE telescope has an aperture of 300 mm, focal length of 1105 mm and field of view of 31.6 arcmin. A dichroic beam splitter separates the beam into the two wavelength bands. The two sensors are 128 X 128 Si:As arrays with 75-micrometers pixels operating in the blocked impurity band (BIB) mode. The focal plane arrays are cooled by solid hydrogen to 7.5 K and the optics and baffles are cooled by solid hydrogen to below 19 K.

Citation Download Citation

David G. Elliott, Perry B. Hacking, and Helene R. Schember "Engineering design of the Wide-Field Infrared Explorer (WIRE)", Proc. SPIE 2268, Infrared Spaceborne Remote Sensing II, (14 September 1994); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.185829

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available