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THERMAP: a mid-infrared spectro-imager for space missions to small bodies in the inner solar system

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Abstract

We present THERMAP, a mid-infrared spectro-imager for space missions to small bodies in the inner solar system, developed in the framework of the MarcoPolo-R asteroid sample return mission. THERMAP is very well suited to characterize the surface thermal environment of a NEO and to map its surface composition. The instrument has two channels, one for imaging and one for spectroscopy: it is both a thermal camera with full 2D imaging capabilities and a slit spectrometer. THERMAP takes advantage of the recent technological developments of uncooled microbolometer arrays, sensitive in the mid-infrared spectral range. THERMAP can acquire thermal images (8–18 μm) of the surface and perform absolute temperature measurements with a precision better than 3.5 K above 200 K. THERMAP can acquire mid-infrared spectra (8–16 μm) of the surface with a spectral resolution Δλ of 0.3 μm. For surface temperatures above 350 K, spectra have a signal-to-noise ratio >60 in the spectral range 9–13 μm where most emission features occur.

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Acknowledgments

The contribution from France to the THERMAP instrument was funded by the Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales (CNES). The contribution from Spain to the THERMAP instrument was funded by the Spanish “Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad” projects AYA2011-29489-C03-02 and AYA2012-39115-C03- 03. M. Delbo acknowledges support from the French “Agence Nationale de la Recherche” (ANR-SHOCKS).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Aix Marseille Université, CNRS, LAM (Laboratoire d’Astrophysique de Marseille) UMR 7326, 38 rue Frédéric-Joliot Curie, 13388, Marseille Cedex 13, France

    O. Groussin, J. L. Reynaud, P. Levacher, P. E. Blanc, E. Brageot, A. Delsanti, K. Dohlen, D. Ferrand, L. Jorda, P. Lamy, J. Le Merrer, C. Rossin, P. Vernazza & S. Vives

  2. Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, c/Via Lactea s/n, 38200, La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain

    J. Licandro, M. Reyes García-Talavera, V. Alí-Lagoa, J. J. Diaz Garcia & E. Joven Álvarez

  3. Deutsches Zentrum für Luft-und Raumfahrt (DLR), Berlin, Germany

    J. Helbert, J. Knollenberg & E. Kührt

  4. Department of Physics and Astronomy, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden

    B. Davidsson

  5. Université de Nice Antipolis, CNRS, Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur, Nice, France

    M. Delbó

  6. Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales (CNES), Toulouse, France

    M. Deleuze & G. Mas

  7. Planetary and Space Sciences, Department of Physical Sciences, The Open University, Milton Keynes, UK

    S. F. Green & B. Rozitis

  8. Laboratoire d’Études Spatiales et d’Instrumentation en Astrophysique (LESIA), Observatoire de Paris, CNRS, UPMC, Université Paris Diderot, Meudon, France

    E. Lellouch

  9. Centre de Recherches Pétrographiques et Géochimiques, Vandoeuvre-lès-Nancy, France

    B. Marty

  10. Department of Astronomy, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA

    J. Sunshine

Authors
  1. O. Groussin
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  2. J. Licandro
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  3. J. Helbert
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  20. J. Knollenberg
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  22. P. Lamy
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  23. E. Lellouch
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  26. G. Mas
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  27. C. Rossin
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  28. B. Rozitis
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  29. J. Sunshine
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  30. P. Vernazza
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  31. S. Vives
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to O. Groussin.

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Groussin, O., Licandro, J., Helbert, J. et al. THERMAP: a mid-infrared spectro-imager for space missions to small bodies in the inner solar system. Exp Astron 41, 95–115 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10686-015-9475-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10686-015-9475-9

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