Sue Lederer, NASA Johnson Space Center Orbital Debris Program Office; Brent Buckalew, Jacobs, NASA Johnson Space Center; Paul Hickson, University of British Columbia/Euclid Research; Heather Cowardin, Jacobs, NASA Johnson Space Center
Keywords: optical, telescope, orbital debris
Abstract:
The Orbital Debris Program Office at NASA Johnson Space Center has a long history of an optical observational program. The Meter Class Autonomous Telescope, MCAT, was dedicated to Eugene Stansbery (now also known as ES-MCAT) in 2017. MCAT, a 1.3m DFM telescope, has a proven capability for tracking known objects from Low-Earth Orbits (LEO) out to Geosynchronous (GEO) orbits.
Monitoring the population of the GEO belt is accomplished through surveys. A GEO survey statistically samples the GEO belt (0 to ~15 deg orbital inclinations) to detect both correlated and uncorrelated targets. A GEO survey, the initial focus for MCAT, will commence in 2019 to map out the current state of the GEO population as input for the ORbital Debris Engineering Model (ORDEM 4.x). If a break-up occurs, surveys of the break-up field can be followed for discovery and investigations of daughter debris fragments from the parent satellite. Discovery can be accomplished by surveying orbits near to and including the parent objects orbit. Targeted observations of debris can be taken with a suite of broadband filters for characterizing individual objects by rate-tracking their known or calculated orbital elements (Two-Line Element sets, TLEs).
Several modifications and upgrades have been made to the instrumentation and systems originally installed in 2015. In 2018, MCATs primary mirror was recoated with a high-end protected, enhanced silver by the ZeCoat Corporation. The CCD chip was replaced in the Spectral Instruments camera with a broad-band antireflective coated chip. The automated weather systems have been modified from the original system, removing some sensors and installing replacements that are better suited to Ascensions weather and environment. And a new 2.5-m ObservaDome replaced the Astrohaven dome on the nearby tower platform that will house an auxiliary 0.4-meter telescope. Finally, in 2019, the Observatory Control System has been upgraded to the 2.0 version with additional flexibility for automating data collection and reduction. With these updates completed, MCAT is now well on track to reach Full Operational Capability (FOC) in 2019 for its survey, rate-track, and TLE tracking capabilities.
Date of Conference: September 17-20, 2019
Track: Optical Systems & Instrumentation