Atmospheric Waves Experiment (AWE) Advanced Mesospheric Temperature Mapper (AMTM) optomechanical design, fabrication, and environmental test

The AWE AMTM is a widefield of view (WFOV) infrared imaging radiometer designed for use in measuring the P1(2) and P1(4) emission lines of the earth’s OH layer to determine temperature and produce images of gravity waves. The sensor was designed, built, and characterized by Utah State University (USU) Space Dynamics Laboratory (SDL) and has been externally mounted to the International Space Station (ISS) looking nadir to collect images for analysis for a minimum of two years. The Opto-Mechanical Assembly (OMA) consists of four identical imaging telescopes, each comprised of a fisheye lens, a field lens, and a re-imager lens and share a common filter wheel with four narrow band filters. The sixteen lenses in each telescope are coaligned and bonded into five stress stabilized aluminum lens barrels. Precision machining allowed the barrels to be mated together via mechanical tolerances (i.e., snap-to-fit) to form the fore and aft assemblies of each telescope that mount to the front and rear of a common, central tombstone assembly which houses the filter wheel mechanism. The detectors were aligned, supported, and thermally compensated via a titanium thermal compensator and custom focus shim attached to the aft end of each telescope. Following assembly, the OMA was environmentally tested including EMI/EMC, vibration, and thermal cycling. Prior to and following each environmental test, the point response function of each telescope was measured and compared to verify performance. This paper will present an overview of the design, fabrication, assembly, integration, and environmental testing of the OMA.