Low Size, Weight, and Power (SWAP) Blackbody Project

ABSTRACT:The objective of the proposed research is to investigate the feasibility of constructing a 27 cm diameter infrared (IR) source with a calibrated output radiance that is as accurate as the current state of the art, yet fits in a volume that is 10 times smaller than a blackbody of comparable aperture size and accuracy, and outputs only half the power. The required effective emissivity of 0.9995 and radiance temperature accuracy of 25 mK represent an advancement of nearly 100x over infrared calibration sources of this geometry. If successful, this advancement will revolutionize the state of the art in space qualified IR calibration sources.BENEFIT:This state of the art blackbody will exceed the performance of any other comparable radiant source of equal size, weight and power by a factor of 100. As such it will be of particular benefit as an infrared source in cryogenic vacuum space test chambers and as a space-based calibration source for remote sensors.