Lionel Jacques

The technical challenges of the Solar-Orbiter EUI instrument

The Extreme Ultraviolet Imager (EUI) onboard Solar Orbiter consists of a suite of two high-resolution imagers (HRI) and one dual-band full Sun imager (FSI) that will provide EUV and Lyman-α images of the solar atmospheric layers above the photosphere. The EUI instrument is based on a set of challenging new technologies allowing to reach the scientific objectives and to cope with the hard space environment of the Solar Orbiter mission. The mechanical concept of the EUI instrument is based on a common structure supporting the HRI and FSI channels, and a separated electronic box. A heat rejection baffle system is used to reduce the Sun heat load and provide a first protection level against the solar disk straylight. The spectral bands are selected by thin filters and multilayer mirror coatings. The detectors are 10μm pitch back illuminated CMOS Active Pixel Sensors (APS), best suited for the EUI science requirements and radiation hardness. This paper presents the EUI instrument concept and its major sub-systems. The current developments of the instrument technologies are also summarized.

Tragopogon dubius, Considerations on a Possible Biomimetic Transfer

Tragopogon dubious is a small herbaceous plant that uses the wind as dispersal vector for its seeds. The seeds are attached to stalked parachutes which increase the aerodynamic drag force on the seeds. This decreases their rate of descent, and hence increases the total distance traveled. The relatively large natural parachute of Tragopogon dubious is an ideal model in a biomimetic structure owing to its relative large size, sturdy and robust structure, and the hierarchical distribution of its fibers. The present contribution describes some preliminary results on the structural properties and aerodynamical behavior of this seed, with the goal of developing new stream of designs of lighter or more robust parachute for possible extra-terrestrial purposes.

Performance of solmacs, a high PV solar concentrator with efficient optics

A new solar panel with high concentration photovoltaic technology (x700) has been designed, prototyped and tested in the SOLMACS project. The quality of concentrating optics is a key factor for high module efficiency. Therefore new dedicated PMMA Fresnel lenses were studied and produced by injection molding. Lens design, material and production process were optimized to achieve a high optical yield of 86%. Thorough lens performance assessment in optical laboratory was completed with lifetime UV aging tests. Another important aspect is the thermal control of the hot spot created under the solar cell that receives the concentrated flux of 700 Suns. A dedicated heat spreader was developed to achieve passive thermal control with minimum mass and cost. This was supported by thermal models and tests at both cell and module level. 35% triple junction cells were implemented in the module. Micro-assembly technologies were used for the cell packaging and electrical connections. In support to the research, a continu...

The EUI flight instrument of Solar Orbiter: from optical alignment to end-to-end calibration

The Extreme Ultraviolet Imager (EUI) instrument for the Solar Orbiter mission will image the solar corona in the extreme ultraviolet (17.1 nm and 30.4 nm) and in the vacuum ultraviolet (121.6 nm) spectral ranges. The development of the EUI instrument has been successfully completed with the optical alignment of its three channels’ telescope, the thermal and mechanical environmental verification, the electrical and software validations, and an end-toend on-ground calibration of the two-units’ flight instrument at the operating wavelengths. The instrument has been delivered and installed on the Solar Orbiter spacecraft, which is now undergoing all preparatory activities before launch.

Space radiation parameters for EUI and the Sun Sensor of Solar Orbiter, ESIO and JUDE instruments

This paper presents predictions of space radiation parameters for four space instruments performed by the Centre Spatial de Liège (ULg – Belgium); EUI, the Extreme Ultra-violet Instrument, on-board the Solar Orbiter platform; ESIO, Extreme-UV solar Imager for Operations, and JUDE, the Jupiter system Ultraviolet Dynamics Experiment, which was proposed for the JUICE platform. For Solar Orbiter platform, the radiation environment is defined by ESA environmental specification and the determination of the parameters is done through ray-trace analyses inside the EUI instrument. For ESIO instrument, the radiation environment of the geostationary orbit is defined through simulations of the trapped particles flux, the energetic solar protons flux and the galactic cosmic rays flux, taking the ECSS standard for space environment as a guideline. Then ray-trace analyses inside the instrument are performed to predict the particles fluxes at the level of the most radiation-sensitive elements of the instrument. For JUICE, the spacecraft trajectory is built from ephemeris files provided by ESA and the radiation environment is modeled through simulations by JOSE (Jovian Specification Environment model) then ray-trace analyses inside the instrument are performed to predict the particles fluxes at the level of the most radiation-sensitive elements of the instrument.

Space radiation parameters for EUI and the Sun Sensor of Solar Orbiter, ESIO, and JUDE instruments

This paper presents predictions of space radiation parameters for four space instruments performed by the Centre Spatial de Liège (ULg – Belgium); EUI, the Extreme Ultra-violet Instrument, on-board the Solar Orbiter platform; ESIO, Extreme-UV solar Imager for Operations, and JUDE, the Jupiter system Ultraviolet Dynamics Experiment, which was proposed for the JUICE platform. For Solar Orbiter platform, the radiation environment is defined by ESA environmental specification and the determination of the parameters is done through ray-trace analyses inside the EUI instrument. For ESIO instrument, the radiation environment of the geostationary orbit is defined through simulations of the trapped particles flux, the energetic solar protons flux and the galactic cosmic rays flux, taking the ECSS standard for space environment as a guideline. Then ray-trace analyses inside the instrument are performed to predict the particles fluxes at the level of the most radiation-sensitive elements of the instrument. For JUICE, the spacecraft trajectory is built from ephemeris files provided by ESA and the radiation environment is modeled through simulations by JOSE (Jovian Specification Environment model) then ray-trace analyses inside the instrument are performed to predict the particles fluxes at the level of the most radiation-sensitive elements of the instrument.