The Sunrise Mission

TLDR

The study outlines the Sunrise mission’s scientific goals and provides a comprehensive overview of its hardware, including the 1‑m telescope, SuFI, IMaX, ISLiD, CWS, and supporting systems. The mission employed a balloon‑borne 1‑m telescope with SuFI, IMaX, ISLiD, and CWS instruments, optimized for structural and thermal performance, and underwent AIV, ground calibration, and a June 2009 flight from ESRANGE to Somerset Island, with detailed monitoring of flight operations. The first Sunrise science flight launched in June 2009 from ESRANGE to Somerset Island, and the in‑flight performance of the instruments was found to be satisfactory.

Abstract

The first science flight of the balloon-borne \Sunrise telescope took place in June 2009 from ESRANGE (near Kiruna/Sweden) to Somerset Island in northern Canada. We describe the scientific aims and mission concept of the project and give an overview and a description of the various hardware components: the 1-m main telescope with its postfocus science instruments (the UV filter imager SuFI and the imaging vector magnetograph IMaX) and support instruments (image stabilizing and light distribution system ISLiD and correlating wavefront sensor CWS), the optomechanical support structure and the instrument mounting concept, the gondola structure and the power, pointing, and telemetry systems, and the general electronics architecture. We also explain the optimization of the structural and thermal design of the complete payload. The preparations for the science flight are described, including AIV and ground calibration of the instruments. The course of events during the science flight is outlined, up to the recovery activities. Finally, the in-flight performance of the instrumentation is briefly summarized.