Slewing Mirror Telescope and the Data-Acquisition System for the UFFO-Pathfinder

The Ultra-Fast Flash Observatory (UFFO) aims to detect the earliest moment of Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs) which is not well known, resulting into the enhancement of GRB mechanism understanding. The pathfinder mission was proposed to be a scaled-down version of UFFO, and only contains the UFFO Burst Alert & Trigger Telescope (UBAT) measuring the X-ray/gamma-ray with the wide-field of view and the Slewing Mirror Telescope (SMT) with a rapid-response for the UV/optical photons.

Once the UBAT detects a GRB candidate with the position accuracy of 10 arcmin, the SMT steers the UV/optical photons from the candidate to the telescope by the fast rotatable mirror and provides the early UV/optical photons measurements with 4 arcsec accuracy. The SMT has a modified Ritchey-Chrètien telescope with the aperture size of 10 cm diameter including the rotatable mirror and the image readout by the intensified charge-coupled device.

There is a key board called the UFFO Data Acquisition system (UDAQ) that manages the communication of each telescope and also of the satellite and the UFFO overall operation. This pathfinder is designed and built within the limited size and weight of ~20 kg and the low power consumption up to ~30 W.

We will discuss the design and performance of the UFFO-pathfinder, and its integration to the Lomonosov satellite.