Abstract

The Stellar Interferometer Tracking Experiment (SITE) is a Space Shuttle flight experiment proposed by the MIT Space Engineering Research Center and NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The SITE instrument is a two-aperture stellar interferometer with a baseline of four meters and a detection bandwidth of 200 - 780 nanometers. The objective of SITE is to validate in the space environment the detectors and fringe-tracking control systems necessary for future space-based astrometric and imaging interferometers. The cophasing and coalignmnet requirements of the stellar beams for such instruments demand nanometer pathlength and milli-arcsecond jitter control in order to acquire precise fringe amplitude and phase measurements. SITE will evaluate and quantify the effects of vibration isolation, structural quieting, and active pathlength and beam tilt control technologies on the ability to capture and track the central interference fringe from a star. This paper describes the conceptual optical design of the SITE instrument.

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