The authors have adopted a fiber optic and television camera imaging system for operational use in the crew cabin on space shuttle orbiter (orbiter) flights. It allows on-orbit inspection into small or confined spaces. Its main use is in-flight maintenance procedures such as examining cabin under-floor air-filters, but it has also been used to observe orbiter experiments. A recent change to less sensitive cameras has dictated that a brighter light be emitted from the end of the fiberscope. The authors have consequently upgraded the battery-powered self-illumination capability by several orders of magnitude, which was a challenge with respect to limited touch-temperature, small admittance (area and solid-angle product) of the illumiating portion of the fiber bundle, and efficiency of getting light from a tungsten-halogen source into the fiber bundle.
Battery-powered fiberscope imaging system for space-shuttle operations
Ein batteriebetriebenes faseroptisches Abbildungssystem für das Space-Shuttle
1993
5 Seiten, 3 Bilder
Conference paper
English
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