Daron L. Nishimoto

Spectroscopic observations of space objects and phenomena using Spica and Kala at AMOS

The Spica and Kala spectrographs located at the rear blanchard of the 1.6 m telescope and the trunnion port of the AEOS 3.67 m telescope, respectively, have been utilized by several DoD and NASA agencies requiring relatively high resolution spectroscopic observations. The sensors are located at the Air Force Maui Optical Station (AMOS), Haleakala, Maui. Three R&D programs utilizing these instruments will be described. The AFRL propulsion directorates demonstration called the electric propulsion space experiment (ESEX) utilized Spica to evaluate high powered arc-jet thruster firings from the ARGOS satellite. AFRL Det. 15 and Air Force Battlelab sponsored a project called SILC to explore the advantages of applying spectroscopic analysis to help reduce satellite cross- tagging and augment Satellite Object Identification (SOI). Thirdly, the NASA Johnson Space Center Space Debris Program obtained spectroscopic data on Low Earth Orbit (LEO) targets to help determine albedo and material composition of space debris.

Raven automated small telescope systems

The Raven optical sensor is a commercial system being developed and tested by the Air Force Research Laboratory. It allows for a low cost method for obtaining high accuracy angular observations of space objects (manmade and celestial) with a standard deviation of approximately one arcsecond or less. Presented here is an overview of the past and present successes and future projects utilizing Raven. This system has evolved into a very viable and cost effective solution for obtaining low-cost observations for satellite and asteroid catalog and follow-up maintenance. Collaborative efforts between AFRL and several space agencies (JPL, NASA, Space Battlelab, Canadian Defense Ministry, etc) have successfully demonstrated and utilized the Raven system for their missions, including improved satellite orbit determination accuracy, NEO follow-ups, and remote autonomous collecting and reporting of metric data on deep space objects.

Phoenix Telescope at AMOS: return of the Baker-Nunn camera

The number of objects orbiting the Earth has been increasing dramatically since the launch of Sputnik in the late 1950s. Thousands of orbiting objects, active satellites or debris, need to be tracked to ensure the accuracy of their orbital elements. To meet the growing needs for space surveillance and orbital debris tracking, the Air Force Maui Optical and Supercomputing Site (AMOS) on Maui, Hawaii is bringing back one of the original Baker-Nunn cameras as the Phoenix Telescope to contribute to these efforts. The Phoenix Telescope retains the wide-field attribute of the original system, while the addition of enhanced optics allows the use of a 4k × 4k pixels back-illuminated CCD array as the imaging camera to provide a field-of-view of 6.8 degrees square (9.6 degrees diagonal). An integrated software suite automates the majority of the operational functions, and allows the system to process in-frame multiple-object acquisitions. The wide-field capability of the Phoenix Telescope is not only an effective tool in the space surveillance effort, but it also has a very high potential value for efforts in searching for and tracking Near-Earth objects (NEO). The large sky coverage provided by the Phoenix Telescope also has the potential to be used in searching for supernova and other astronomical phenomena. An overview of the Phoenix system and results obtained since first-light are presented.

Deep space satellite observations using the near-Earth asteroid tracking (NEAT) camera at AMOS

The AMOS 1.2-m telescope is being used 18 nights per month to search for Near-Earth Asteroids (NEA). Since telescope time is a very valuable resource, our goal is to use the telescope as efficiently as possible. This includes striving to maximize the utility of each observation. Since the NEAT searches are within the ecliptic, the same part of the sky as geosynchronous satellites, these search fields contain satellite tracks as well as asteroids. We present the results of simulations of the number of satellites that should be found within the field of view based upon the field centers and times for several nights. We have also examined the NEAT images for geosynchronous objects and present these results. During the remaining nights each month, we use the NEAT camera to obtain observations of deep-space satellites. This data will also be presented. We also present the results of simulations for optimizing search strategies for deep-space objects using NEAT and other AMOS sensors.

Raven concept applied to asteroid and satellite surveillance

Not all realms of observation require an 8-meter telescope. Some, such as space surveillance of asteroids and man-made satellites, are too important to ignore, yet obviously inappropriate to consign to the new generation of large telescopes. The United States Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), with Boeing, Rocketdyne Technical Services (RTS), has developed a low-cost, rapidly deployable surveillance telescope concept called Raven which takes advantage of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) telescopes, detectors and software. The development of the Raven concept was originally a response to a recognized need to support the timely follow- up of asteroid discoveries. Early astrometric tests using Raven telescope in the 12- to 16-inch diameter range proved to be comparable in accuracy to the much larger telescopes of the existing space surveillance network. Observations of man-made satellites have also produced quality results. A high level of productivity is achieved by automating all of the observing functions and much of the data reduction and analysis. Performance data in both the areas of asteroid and satellite metrics will be presented, and performance parameters discussed.