Space-Qualified Fabry-Perot Filter

Instruments such as those proposed for the High Resolution Solar Optical Telescope (HRSOT) mission will require a very high resolution and high throughput device to isolate absorption lines in the solar continuum. Thus, a very narrow passband is required, and sideband contamination must be minimized. An unavoidable effect of any spectral filtering system is to attenuate the signal even at the bandpass centroid, and there is a tradeoff between providing the narrowest bandwidth, while maintaining maximum throughput. The device must also be robust enough to survive the vibration stresses of launch, and be immune to the thermal, vacuum, and radiation conditions of the space environment over a period of several years. The objective are as follows:1. Investigate what heritage from prior Fabry-Perot instruments that the Michigan Aerospace Corporation team has worked on is applicable to the HRSOT instrument and develop a simulation and conceptual design for the filter system with the critical initial trade studies and system development.2. Using existing prototype hardware, demonstrate that a design exists for a tunable, high-finesse etalon that is capable of surviving the rigors of launch by subjecting the existing hardware to an environmental test, comparable to what would be required of HRSOT.