Development of the SPIRIT III sensor

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Abstract
SD/US has built the SPIRIT III sensor that will be flown aboard the MSX spacecraft experiment and will operate for about 18 months. The MSX mission objective is to measure the spectral, spatial, and radiometric parameters of various orbital and suborbital targets; the earth's airglow, aurora, and other upper atmospheric phenomena; and the celestial background. This paper discusses the design and development of the SPIRIT III sensor--the primary instrument for collecting long-wave infrared data during the MSX mission. SPIRIT III consists of a sensor system and 19 electronic units distributed near the sensor and in the electronics section. The sensor assembly consists of an extremely high off-axis-rejection telescope, a radiometer, and an interferometer, all of which are cooled to cryogenic temperatures by a solid- hydrogen-filled dewar/heat exchanger. In addition to these, there are several ancillary/diagnostic instruments, including an autocollimator for alignment corrections, a cryogenic quartz-crystal microbalance to monitor contamination, an onboard signal data processor, various internal stimulation sources, and associated monitors, controls, and telemetry.

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