Thermal Optical Analyses on a Space Camera Based upon the Vacuum Test

Abstract

Based upon the temperature data from the thermal balance test in vacuum environment, thermal optical analyses on a space optical remote sensor (space camera), aiming at investigating the thermal influences on the optical performance, were carried out. In this paper, the measured discrete temperature data were applied to obtain the integrated temperature profile of the camera, and the thermal distortions and optical performances with that temperature distributions were calculated, which was different from the general analyses procedure published in the open literatures. By the researches of inversion temperature field analyzing, thermal distortion analyzing, optical performance analyzing, and data comparing between simulation and test, it was indicated that temperature is one of the effect factors to the optical performance of this space camera. The results also indicated that the thermal distortion influences on the optical performance could be farthest restrained by controlling the temperature of the main structural and optical components under the design value.