Free access article



A&A 402, L27-L34 (2003)
DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361:20030335

Letter

The Odin satellite

I. Radiometer design and test

U. Frisk¹, M. Hagström², J. Ala-Laurinaho³, S. Andersson⁴, J.-C. Berges⁵, J.-P. Chabaud^{6, 7}, M. Dahlgren², A. Emrich⁴, H.-G. Florén⁸, G. Florin¹, M. Fredrixon², T. Gaier⁹, R. Haas¹⁰, T. Hirvonen³, Å. Hjalmarsson², B. Jakobsson¹, P. Jukkala¹¹, P. S. Kildal¹², E. Kollberg¹², J. Lassing¹², A. Lecacheux¹³, P. Lehikoinen³, A. Lehto³, J. Mallat³, C. Marty⁶, D. Michet¹³, J. Narbonne⁶, M. Nexon⁶, M. Olberg², A. O. H. Olofsson², G. Olofsson⁸, A. Origné⁵, M. Petersson¹⁴, P. Piironen³, R. Pons⁶, D. Pouliquen⁵, I. Ristorcelli⁶, C. Rosolen¹³, G. Rouaix⁶, A. V. Räisänen³, G. Serra^{6, 7}, F. Sjöberg¹, L. Stenmark¹⁵, S. Torchinsky¹⁶, J. Tuovinen³, C. Ullberg¹⁵, E. Vinterhav¹, N. Wadefalk¹², H. Zirath¹², P. Zimmermann¹⁷ and R. Zimmermann<sup>17

1</sup>  Swedish Space Corporation, Box 4207, 171 04 Solna, Sweden
²  Onsala Space Observatory, Chalmers University of Technology, 439 92 Onsala, Sweden
³  Helsinki University of Technology, Radio Laboratory, PO Box 3000, 02015 HUT, Espoo, Finland
⁴  Omnisys Instruments, Gruvgatan 8, 421 30 Gothenburg, Sweden
⁵  Observatoire Astronomique Marseille Provence, LAM, CNRS, Traverse du Siphon, BP 8, 13376 Marseille Cedex 12, France
⁶  Centre d'Étude Spatiale des Rayonnements, CNRS, 9 avenue du Colonel Roche, 31028 Toulouse, France
⁷  We regret the deaths of Guy Serra in 2000 and of Jean-Paul Chabaud in 2001
⁸  Stockholm Observatory, SCFAB, Roslagstullsbacklen 21, 106 91 Stockholm, Sweden
⁹  Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, California 91109, USA
¹⁰  TRW, M5/2154, 1 Space Park, Redondo Beach, CA 90278, USA
¹¹  Ylinen Electronics Ltd, Teollisuustie 9 A, 02700 Kauniainen, Finland
¹²  Chalmers University of Technology, 412 96 Gothenburg, Sweden
¹³  Observatoire de Paris, Département ARPEGES, 92195 Meudon Principal Cedex, France
¹⁴  Saab Ericsson Space, 405 15 Gothenburg, Sweden
¹⁵  ACR, Redskapsvägen 7, 619 00 Trosa, Sweden
¹⁶  Canadian Space Agency, PO Box 7275, Ottawa, Ontario K1L 8E3, Canada
¹⁷  Radiometer Physics, Birkenmaarstrasse 15, 5309 Meckenheim, Germany

(Received 6 December 2002 / Accepted 2 March 2003)

Abstract
The Sub-millimetre and Millimetre Radiometer (SMR) is the main instrument on the Swedish, Canadian, Finnish and French spacecraft Odin. It consists of a 1.1 metre diameter telescope with four tuneable heterodyne receivers covering the ranges 486-504 GHz and 541-581 GHz, and one fixed at 118.75 GHz together with backends that provide spectral resolution from 150 kHz to 1 MHz. This Letter describes the Odin radiometer, its operation and performance with the data processing and calibration described in Paper II.

Key words: space vehicles -- space vehicles: instruments -- telescopes -- techniques: spectroscopic

Offprint request: U. Frisk, urban.frisk@ssc.se

© ESO 2003