A compact DUV spectrometer for wide-temperature entry, descent, and landing sensing applications

NASA has described the need for rugged, compact spectrometers for deep ultraviolet (DUV) analysis of atmospheric properties during the entry, descent, and landing (EDL) phase of the mission profile for planetary landing craft. The EDL phase presents a brief opportunity to gather useful altitude profiles of atmospheric components and pressures. However, EDL is a high-risk phase and presents severe challenges to instrument design, including large temperature changes over short periods and payload restrictions. Therefore, the preferred features of an EDL spectrometer are compact design, stable performance across wide temperatures, DUV sensitivity, and simple temperature management systems. In this paper, a compact EDL spectrometer is described, which includes the system-level optical design and analysis of the novel silicon-carbide integrated circuits.