The Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS), scheduled for installation on the HST observatory in December 1999, is nearing completion at Ball Aerospace. This versatile camera, comprising 3 detector systems covering the wavelength range from the far UV through 1.1 micron and a large complement of filters, polarizers, prism and grism dispersers and a coronograph, must be fully characterized before launch. We present plans for the instrument-level optical performance verification and calibration which will be performed later this year. Our intent is to provide a comprehensive characterization of the ACS to facilitate plans for its use aboard HST and to optimize the scientific usefulness of the immense data volume that ACS will provide. In order to comply with the aggressive delivery schedule and relatively restrictive budget, the calibration program will make use of much of the tools and apparatus developed at Ball for previous HST instruments and the data acquisition will be optimized, applying the lessons learned from those earlier programs.
Keywords: SM3, HST Advanced Camera, CCDs, filters, calibration
Brief Biography, Principal Author:
Presently: Scientist, Space Telescope Science Institute; Project Scientist, HST Advanced Camera for Surveys. Formerly: Co-investigator, HST FOS; Optical Scientist, COSTAR; Instrument Scientist, STIS. Research interests: AGN, IGM, and spacecraft instrumentation. Ph.D., Physics, The Johns Hopkins University, 1978.
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