Visible and infrared mapping spectrometer for exploration of comets,asteroids, and the saturnian system of rings and moons

The science objectives and system design for a Visible and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS), an imaging spectrometer for planetary exploration, are described. The instrument development is the result of a collaboration between scientists and engineers from the United States, Italy, and France. NASA has selected VIMS as a facility instrument for the Comet Rendezvous Asteroid Flyby (CRAF) Mission, and as a candidate facility instrument for the Cassini Mission to explore Saturn and its rings and moons. (A facility instrument is provided by the project for the use of a science team which was selected on the basis of individual competitive science proposals.) VIMS covers the spectral range from 0.35 to 5.2 μm with a nominal spatial resolution of 0.5 milliradians (pixel size) and spectral resolutions (spectral width) of 7 nm at 0.35–1.0- μm wavelength and 16nm at 1.0–5.2-μm wavelength. The nominal pixel size is 0.5 × 0.5 mrad². The two separate missions are scheduled to be launched by NASA from the Eastern Test Range at Cape Canaveral, Florida, using the Titan IV Launch Vehicle. The planned launch date for the Cassini Mission is November 1995. The planned launch date for the CRAF Mission is February 1996.