US scientists develop portable solar observatory for space missions

Scientists at the Southwest Research Institute in the US have developed miniature portable solar observatory for use on-board a commercial, manned suborbital spacecraft.

Using a two-stage pointing system, the SwRI Solar Instrument Pointing Platform (SSIPP) will search for solar ultrasound during its space flight onboard a general aviation aircraft in 2015.

In the first stage, a pilot will initially steer the instrument toward the Sun.

The instrument will fly on the XCOR’s Lynx suborbital spacecraft after completion of its flight test programme next year.

The system will be mounted on outer surface of the host vehicle, to enable ultraviolet and X-ray observations.

SwRI space science and engineering division principal scientist Craig DeForest said: "Development and testing of space instrumentation has been essentially unchanged since World War Two.

"New instruments were mated to sounding rockets, which are hand-built, miniature spacecraft that fly five-minute missions but require months, and sometimes years, between flights because the payloads typically need reconditioning after each flight.

"Commercial manned flights have the potential to completely change all that by providing a stabilised, completely reusable platform that is 30 times less expensive per flight than sounding rockets and can fly many times per week."

The SSIPP will be showcased at the meeting of the American Geophysical Union scheduled to be held from 16-19 December at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, California, US.

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Image:The SSIPP uses a two-stage pointing system. Photo: courtesy of Southwest Research Institute.