NASA AURA HIRDLS instrument calibration facility

Abstract

A state-of-the-art calibration facility was designed and built for the calibration of the HIRDLS instrument at the University of Oxford, England. This paper describes the main features of the facility, the driving requirements and a summary of the performance that was achieved during the calibration. Specific technical requirements and a summary of the performance that was achieved during the calibration. Specific technical requirements and other constaints determined the design solutions that were adopted and the implementation methodology. The main features of the facility included a high performance clean room, vacuum chamber with thermal environmental control as well as the calibration sources. Particular attention was paid to maintenance of cleanliness (molecular and particulate), ESD control, mechanical isolation and high reliability. Schedule constraints required that all the calibration sources were integrated into the facility so that the number of re-press and warm up cycles was minimized and so that all the equipment could be operated at the same time.