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U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Clementine auto exposure control software

Conference ·
OSTI ID:145967
 [1]
  1. Lawrence Livermore National Lab., CA (United States)

The primary mission of the Clementine program was to test technology developed under the auspices of BMDO (the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization). A secondary goal of the program was to provide astronomical data to the scientific and educational community. The mission plan developed to accomplish these goals included complete mapping of the lunar surface and a close fly-by of a near-Earth asteroid, 1620 Geographos. Exposure control for the Clementine mission was driven by mission phase requirements and sensor characteristics. Thus, there were a total of twelve algorithms developed for three primary mission phases and the four imaging sensors (two additional sensors operated as star trackers). The three mission phases in question were lunar mapping, distant observation of the asteroid for the purpose of tracking, and close-up viewing (as close as 100 Km) of Geographos. The four non-star tracker sensors consisted of an Ultra Violet/Visible (UV/Vis) camera, a High Resolution (HiRes) camera with a built-in LIDAR (Light Detection And Ranging) unit, a Near Infrared (NIR) camera, and a Long Wave InfraRed (LWIR) camera. Due to lack of test time and uncertainties about the imaging environment, numerous input parameters were provided in the algorithms to allow extensive tuning of the exposure control during the mission.

Research Organization:
Lawrence Livermore National Lab., CA (United States)
OSTI ID:
145967
Report Number(s):
CONF-9411140--Absts.; ON: DE95017252
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English