Special Optics has designed and assembled a custom 500mm focal-length telescope that will be deployed in NASA's MABEL laser altimeter instrument, for use in its ICESat-2 satellite mission.
MABEL is an aircraft-based simulator for the Advanced Topographic Laser Altimeter System (ATLAS) instrument that will fly on board the second generation Ice, Cloud and Land Elevation Satellite (ICESat-2) to measure global changes in polar ice coverage.
Special Optics was contracted by NASA to design and build two 500mm focal length telescopes for the ICESat-2 mission, scheduled for 2016.
The ICESat-2 will replace the original ICESat satellite, which successfully collected ice, cloud, topography and vegetation data from 2003 to 2009.
In order to gather information prior to the ICESat-2 launch, NASA is conducting a series of airborne campaigns using the MABEL instrument.
The athermalized 500mm telescope units, with titanium mechanics, require precise assembly and testing to ensure they are identical in focal length.
When used in the aircraft, one telescope will transmit multiple laser pulses while the other receives the ground-reflected light.
Using the transmitted and received signals, as well as precisely measuring the time between pulses, NASA can map the terrain of the earth.
This project has great significance to Navitar, Special Optics' parent company, headquartered in Rochester, New York.
Navitar's connection to NASA dates back over 40 years when Navitar produced an 8mm camera lens used to capture historical satellite images of TIROS-1 (Television Infrared Observation Satellite), the world's first weather satellite.
Navitar and Special Optics produce optics widely used for military, defense and homeland security applications.
