Correction of the Geomagnetically-Induced Image Motion Problem on the Hubble Space Telescopes Faint Object Spectrograph

摘要

During the Science Verification phase of the Hubble Space Telescope mission, it was determined that the Faint Object Spectrograph's (FOS) Red detector displayed significant image motions which correlated with orbital changes in the geomagnetic field. The Blue detector exhibited similar but less pronounced motions. The cause of this motion was determined to be inadequate magnetic shielding of the instrument's Digicon detectors. The results of these motions were decreases in onboard target acquisition accuracy, spectral resolution, and photometric accuracy. The Space Telescope Science Institute and the FOS Investigation Definition Team, set about correcting this Geomagnetically-induced Image Motion Problem (GIMP) through a real-time on-board correction scheme. This correction required modifications to almost all aspects of the HST ground system as well as additional NSSC1 flight software and the use of an existing software 'hook' in the FOS microprocessor firmware. This paper presents a detailed description of the problem, the proposed solution, and results of on-orbit testing of the correction mechanism.