Fine-pointing system development and photometric precision assessment for the transiting exoplanet survey satellite
Thesis: Ph. D. in Space Systems, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 2018.
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| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | eng |
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Massachusetts Institute of Technology
2018
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/119268 |
| _version_ | 1826189970247778304 |
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| author | Nguyen, Tam Nguyen Thuc |
| author2 | Kerri L. Cahoy. |
| author_facet | Kerri L. Cahoy. Nguyen, Tam Nguyen Thuc |
| author_sort | Nguyen, Tam Nguyen Thuc |
| collection | MIT |
| description | Thesis: Ph. D. in Space Systems, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 2018. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T08:33:01Z |
| format | Thesis |
| id | mit-1721.1/119268 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | eng |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T08:33:01Z |
| publishDate | 2018 |
| publisher | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/1192682019-04-09T18:25:36Z Fine-pointing system development and photometric precision assessment for the transiting exoplanet survey satellite Nguyen, Tam Nguyen Thuc Kerri L. Cahoy. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics. Aeronautics and Astronautics. Thesis: Ph. D. in Space Systems, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 2018. This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections. Cataloged from student-submitted PDF version of thesis. Includes bibliographical references (pages 157-162). The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) is an MIT-led, NASA-funded Explorer-class planet finder with the primary mission of detecting transiting exoplanets in a 2-year all-sky survey. The TESS instrument consists of four wide-field optical cameras, mounted in a stacked configuration. During science operations, TESS uses the instrument cameras in the loop for attitude determination as part of the fine-pointing system in order to achieve the desired photometric precision of the mission. In this work, we present our approach toward improving and quantifying the fine-pointing performance of TESS and assessing the impact of pointing errors on the overall photometric precision of the mission. First, a guide-star selection method was developed to generate a set of desirable stars for guidance during any arbitrary observation sector based on stellar properties and their proximities to neighboring objects. Next, a comprehensive testing and validation framework was developed to assess the attitude determination flight software as well as to quantify the attitude determination performance of the instrument cameras during key mission scenarios. This framework allows the attitude determination system to be significantly improved, leading to a reduction in open-loop attitude errors by more than 65%. The final attitude determination performance was estimated to meet all relevant open-loop pointing requirements with margin. To assess the closed-loop fine-pointing performance of the system, multiple mission scenarios were simulated and analyzed using a comprehensive framework including both instrument performance as well as spacecraft control and dynamics, showing that the relevant closed-loop pointing requirements at multiple time scales are met with margin. The performance of the system over longer time scales and in temporary camera unavailability periods was also quantified through end-to-end simulations and is in agreement with analytical predictions. Finally, a high-fidelity simulation and analysis framework was developed to assess the photometric precision of the system, including realistic optical responses of the cameras, major photometry noise processes, and expected fine-pointing errors. The simulation results show that with basic co-trending techniques, the impact of pointing errors on science data can be significantly reduced, resulting in shot-noise-limited stellar photometry signals over the magnitude range of interest. by Tam Nguyen Thuc Nguyen. Ph. D. in Space Systems 2018-11-28T15:25:15Z 2018-11-28T15:25:15Z 2018 2018 Thesis http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/119268 1061505769 eng MIT theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed, downloaded, or printed from this source but further reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582 162 pages application/pdf Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| spellingShingle | Aeronautics and Astronautics. Nguyen, Tam Nguyen Thuc Fine-pointing system development and photometric precision assessment for the transiting exoplanet survey satellite |
| title | Fine-pointing system development and photometric precision assessment for the transiting exoplanet survey satellite |
| title_full | Fine-pointing system development and photometric precision assessment for the transiting exoplanet survey satellite |
| title_fullStr | Fine-pointing system development and photometric precision assessment for the transiting exoplanet survey satellite |
| title_full_unstemmed | Fine-pointing system development and photometric precision assessment for the transiting exoplanet survey satellite |
| title_short | Fine-pointing system development and photometric precision assessment for the transiting exoplanet survey satellite |
| title_sort | fine pointing system development and photometric precision assessment for the transiting exoplanet survey satellite |
| topic | Aeronautics and Astronautics. |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/119268 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT nguyentamnguyenthuc finepointingsystemdevelopmentandphotometricprecisionassessmentforthetransitingexoplanetsurveysatellite |