Étalonnage au sol de l’instrument SIMBIO-SYS à bord de la mission ESA/BEPICOLOMBO

摘要

BepiColombo is one of the cornerstones of the scientific program of ESA. It will study the planet Mercury with two spacecrafts in orbit around the planet. One of the two spacecrafts, the Mercury Planetary Orbiter (MPO), will be dedicated to the study of the surface and interior of the planet. The mission is scheduled for launch in 2016 and arrival at Mercury in January 2024. IAS is responsible for the calibration of the imaging system SIMBIO-SYS (Spectrometers and Imagers for MPO BepiColombo Integrated Observatory-SYStem) which consists of a high-resolution camera (HRIC), a stereoscopic camera (STC) and a visible and near-infrared hyperspectral imager (VIHI). These instruments should deeply change our understanding of the composition and geomorphology of Mercury surface. My research subject allowed me to participate in all the activities concerning the definition, implementation and validation of the calibration facilities at the IAS. These facilities are divided into different sub-systems: a thermal vacuum chamber containing the instrument during all the calibration campaign that shall simulate the environmental conditions (temperature and pressure), an optical bench with optical components and radiometrically calibrated sources reproducing the observational conditions as it will be seen by the instrument once placed in Mercury’s orbit, mechanical interfaces allowing the positioning and guidance of the instrument when placed inside the vacuum chamber with the required precision and accuracy, thermal interfaces facilitating the thermal excursion of the detectors, software interfaces so as to automatize and control the entire system. I developed a radiometric model of the calibration system and instrument to refine the calibration sources. In parallel, I performed several measurements of some subsystems so as to validate the optical assembly and to improve its control. Finally as a result of a close collaboration with the three Italian scientific teams of the instrument, I elaborate the fully package of the calibration sequences and the detailed instrument configuration that will be used during the calibration campaign.