1. CHEOPS - CHaracterizing ExOPlanet Satellite
CHEOPS is a space telescope that will target bright stars known to host exoplanets.
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2. https://www.nasa.gov/feature/jpl/20-intriguing-exoplanets; http://sci.esa.int/cheops/54030-summary/
Science Goals
The main science goals of the CHEOPS mission will be to measure the bulk density of super-Earths to Neptunes orbiting bright stars.
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3. Timeline for CHEOPS Mission Launch: planned for 2018
Operated by European Space Agency (ESA) and Swiss Space Office (SSO)
Mission duration: planned for 3.5 years
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4. The Spacecraft Three views of the spacecraft
Three views of the spacecraft
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5.
Instruments
The payload is based around a single frame-transfer back-side illuminated CCD (charge coupled detector) in the focal plane of a 32 cm diameter on-axis telescope.
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8. CHEOPS - CHaracterizing ExOPlanet Satellite
CHEOPS is the first mission dedicated to searching for exoplanetary transits by performing ultrahigh precision photometry on bright stars already known to host planets.
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9. Science Goals
The main science goals of the CHEOPS mission will be to measure the bulk density of exoplanets with sizes/masses in the super-Earth to Neptune range orbiting bright stars, and to select the optimal targets for future in-depth characterization studies of exoplanets in these mass and size ranges.
With an accurate knowledge of masses and radii, CHEOPS will set new constraints on the structure and therefore on the formation and evolution of planets in this mass range.
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10. In particular, CHEOPS will:
Science Goals
In particular, CHEOPS will:
Perform first-step characterizations of super-Earths, by measuring the radii and densities in a planetary mass range for which only a handful of data exist and to a precision never achieved before, and by identifying planets with significant atmospheres as a function of their mass, distance to the star, and stellar parameters.
Obtain new insights into the physics and formation processes of Neptunes, by measuring accurate radii and densities for Neptunes, deriving minimum values of their gas mass fractions, and inferring possible evolution paths.
Provide golden targets for future ground- and space-based facilities with spectroscopic capabilities. With well-determined radii and masses, the CHEOPS planets will constitute the best sample of targets within the solar neighborhood and spread over the whole sky for such future studies.
Probe the atmosphere of known hot Jupiters in order to study the physical mechanisms and efficiency of the energy transport from the dayside to the night side of the planet.
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11. Timeline for CHEOPS Mission: Launch: planned for 2018
Operated by European Space Agency (ESA) and Swiss Space Office (SSO)
Rocket: Soyuz or Vega
Launch site: Guiana Space Centre in French Guiana near Kourou
Mission duration: planned for 3.5 years
Orbit: a geocentric orbit around Earth, sun-synchronous 6 am/pm at km altitude
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12. The Spacecraft
The instrument and telescope will be mounted on a stiff optical bench, which defines the interface to the platform, and will be thermally decoupled. A sunshield mounted on the platform will protect the focal plane radiator and detector housing from solar illumination and also carry solar panels for the power subsystem. When stowed for launch, the satellite will measure about 1.5 m × 1.4 m × 1.5 m. and weight <300 kg.
The spacecraft will be three-axis stabilized, with a pointing stability of eight arc-second root mean square over a 48-hour science observation. The payload will provide centroid data from the target star to the platform's attitude and orbit control system, to enable compensation of low-frequency pointing errors.
During each orbit, the spacecraft will be slowly rotated around the telescope line-of-sight to keep the focal plane radiator oriented towards cold space, enabling passive cooling of the detector.
Three views of the spacecraft
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13. The Optical Telescope Assembly (OTA)
Instruments
The payload is based around a single frame-transfer back-side illuminated CCD detector in the focal plane (FPA) of a 32 cm diameter on-axis telescope. The telescope feeds a re-imaging optic which supports the stray light suppression concept by providing a position for a field stop and reducing the impact of scattering from the baffling system reaching the detector directly.
Stray light, primarily from the Earth, will be a major source of noise and the telescope must be baffled to control its impact. Cleanliness and contamination requirements lead to the need for a door cover which is light and dust tight. The detector plus support electronics together with the telescope, back-end optics, instrument computer and thermal regulation hardware are known collectively as the CHEOPS Instrument System (CIS).
The CIS:
The Optical Telescope Assembly (OTA)
The Baffle and Cover Assembly (BCA)
The Sensor Electronics Module (SEM)
The Back-End Electronics (BEE)
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