A 36 in. aperture telescope is being developed for installation aboard a NASA-Lockheed C-141A aircraft. This airborne observatory will permit observation of infrared emission at altitudes above 45,000 ft above much of the infrared-absorbing atmospheric water vapor. The telescope will look through a movable open port in the aircraft fuselage. A porous spoiler, upstream from the open port, will attenuate pressure disturbances and permit operation at ambient temperatures and pressures without an obscuring window. The telescope's entire structure is supported by a 16 in. spherical air bearing, which effectively isolates it from angular aircraft motions. This air bearing support, with inertial stabilization and star tracking, will permit net line of sight stability of better than 2 arcsec rms.
NASA-ARC 36 inch airborne infrared telescope
1972-06-01
Conference paper
No indication
English
Space - NASA prepares sensitive infrared telescope for flight in Sofia airborne observatory
Online Contents | 2008
The NASA Space Infrared Telescope Facility
NTRS | 1996
|Infrared instrumentation on NASA airborne observatories
Tema Archive | 1977
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