LIFE-CYCLE OF A STARMAPPER

摘要

TNO-TPD's Starmapper 1. is a solid-state star sensor designed for spin-stabilised spacecraft's (10 - 20 RPM), 2. with a line of sight of the optical unit which is canted with respect to the spin-axis; 3. its field of view sweeps over the celestial sphere, 4. in order that about 150 bright stars can bee seen. After development of a prototype in the 70's, a first flight opportunity was given by the GIOTTO mission, in 1983/84. Following the success of this comet fly-by the Starmapper was selected for a second flight possibility on the CLUSTER mission. This resulted into the delivery of 4 flight models, and a spare one. After the very short flight of this S/C a rebuilt of 3 Starmappers has been performed for CLUSTER-II. This paper will present 1. an historical overview of the development 2. technical details on the functional principle of the Starmapper 3. descriptions of the design changes over the programs.