Micro APS based star tracker

JPL has conducted a study on how to design future miniaturized star trackers. The study proposes an ultra-low power (70 mW), ultra-low mass (42 grams) and very fast (50 Hz) Micro, APS-based Star Tracker (MAST). The accuracy of the MAST will be /spl sim/7.5 arcseconds at 50 Hz update rate. The MAST is indispensable to all low mass and power micro/nano spacecraft where mass and power is a concern. The MAST consists of only two chips-a breakthrough CMOS Active Pixel Sensor (APS) image detector optimized for star tracker applications and an ASIC chip including an I/sup 2/C interface, memory and an 8051 microcontroller. MAST has functionality so it outputs pixel data from small windows and the spacecraft computer performs the processing.