SWUIS—A compact astronomical UV/VIS/IR imaging system for manned space-based platforms including the space shuttle and the international space station

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Abstract
SWUIS is a compact, low-cost ultraviolet/visible/infrared imaging system designed for remote sensing observations from a manned platform in space. SWUIS operates in two modes: (1) telescope science mode (TSM), and (2) camera science mode (CSM). The main hardware components in TSM consist of an 18-cm UV-transmissive Maksutov-Cassegrain telescope feeding an intensified CCD (ICCD) camera. The detector is an ICCD imaging camera sensitive to UV/visible/near-IR wavelengths that frames at video rates. Data is output from the ICCD as an RS-170 video signal and recorded onto a video recorder. A custom window mounting bracket allows SWUIS to attach to the Space Shuttle side-hatch window for UV observations (and which could be adapted to fit aboard an ISS window). In TSM, SWUIS has a field-of-view (FOV) that can be varied between 0.3–0.6° (full cone). In CSM, SWUIS operates with the ICCD and an attached wide-field lens giving a FOV of 12.5°. SWUIS collected >4.1×10 5 images of comet Hale-Bopp in 1997 on its maiden voyage aboard the Space Shuttle (STS-85). Details of the SWUIS hardware are presented, as well as its performance during STS-85. Plans for future flights aboard STS-93 and future Shuttle missions, as well as it becoming a permanent astronomical facility aboard the ISS are also described.

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