Control software for the Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous laser rangefinder

Ashruf S. El-Dinary; Timothy D. Cole; R. Alan Reiter; Daniel E. Rodriguez

doi:10.1117/12.254037

18 October 1996 Control software for the Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous laser rangefinder

Ashruf S. El-Dinary, Timothy D. Cole, R. Alan Reiter, Daniel E. Rodriguez

Proceedings Volume 2811, Photonics for Space Environments IV; (1996) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.254037
Event: SPIE's 1996 International Symposium on Optical Science, Engineering, and Instrumentation, 1996, Denver, CO, United States

Abstract

The near earth asteroid rendezvous (NEAR) laser rangefinder (NLR), an instrument on the NEAR spacecraft, was designed to measure range from the NEAR spacecraft to the surface of the asteroid 433 EROS. The instrument consists of a laser transmitter, a calibration fiber, an optical receiver, analog electronics, power converting and conditioning electronics, and a digital processing unit. The digital processing unit controls configuration and operation of the transmitter and analog electronics. Software running in the processor handles communication between the spacecraft data bus and the NLR. The software includes functions for command handling, telemetry data formatting and data transfer to the command and data handling computer, transmitter control, measurement of the receiver noise floor, and correction of some timing delays. A brief overview of the software is given along with descriptions of auto-calibration sequences and test results.

Citation Download Citation

Ashruf S. El-Dinary, Timothy D. Cole, R. Alan Reiter, and Daniel E. Rodriguez "Control software for the Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous laser rangefinder", Proc. SPIE 2811, Photonics for Space Environments IV, (18 October 1996); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.254037

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