By Research Support Instruments (RSI)
The Low-Earth-Orbit Atmospheric Compensation Experiment (LACE) satellite carried four experiments: 1) Sensor field for ground based adaptive optics evaluation in the infrared, visible and pulsed wavelengths (for the Strategic Defense Initiatives Office); 2) Ultra-Violet Plume Imaging (UVPI) tracking experiment (also for SDIO); 3) Optical Radiation Detection experiment (for Aerospace Corporation); 4) Background neutron environment measurements for decoy detection experiment (for the US Army). LACE was integrated with a USAF relay-mirror experiment payload and mounted atop a Delta II rocket for a successful launch in February 1990 from Cape Canaveral. RSI performed all calibrations of the LACE sensor array subsystem comprising three separate arrays covering a 4m by 4m surface and consisting of visible: 85 Si photodiodes; pulsed: 85 Si photodiodes; IR: 40 pairs of HgCdTe photoresistive sensors. All 210 sensors were calibrated to 10% radiometric accuracy over five orders of magnitude as functions of wavelength, incidence angle, polarization, and sensor temperature. RSI also provided field support for LACE observations.
