Abstract
An attitude determination system for balloon-borne experiments is presented. The system provides pointing information in azimuth and elevation for instruments flying on stratospheric balloons over Antarctica. In-flight attitude is given by the real-time combination of readings from star cameras, a magnetometer, sun sensors, GPS, gyroscopes, tilt sensors and an elevation encoder. Post-flight attitude reconstruction is determined from star camera solutions, interpolated by the gyroscopes using an extended Kalman Filter. The multi-sensor system was employed by the Balloon-borne Large Aperture Submillimeter Telescope for Polarimetry (BLASTPol), an experiment that measures polarized thermal emission from interstellar dust clouds. A similar system was designed for the upcoming flight of Spider, a Cosmic Microwave Background polarization experiment. The pointing requirements for these experiments are discussed, as well as the challenges in designing attitude reconstruction systems for high altitude balloon flights. In the 2010 and 2012 BLASTPol flights from McMurdo Station, Antarctica, the system demonstrated an accuracy of < 5' rms in-flight, and < 5" rms post-flight.
Original language | English |
---|---|
Title of host publication | Ground-Based and Airborne Telescopes V |
Editors | Helen J. Hall, Larry M. Stepp, Roberto Gilmozzi |
Publisher | SPIE |
ISBN (Electronic) | 9780819496133 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2014 |
Event | Ground-Based and Airborne Telescopes V - Montreal, Canada Duration: 22 Jun 2014 → 27 Jun 2014 |
Publication series
Name | Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering |
---|---|
Volume | 9145 |
ISSN (Print) | 0277-786X |
ISSN (Electronic) | 1996-756X |
Conference
Conference | Ground-Based and Airborne Telescopes V |
---|---|
Country/Territory | Canada |
City | Montreal |
Period | 22/06/14 → 27/06/14 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2014 SPIE.
Other keywords
- attitude determination
- balloon-borne telescopes
- cosmic microwave background
- pointing precision
- star cameras
- submillimeter