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VMC - Visual Monitoring Camera (cubic)

OIP, as a subcontractor for the former Alcatel-Alenia Space Group [F], currently Thales Alenia Space, was responsible for the full development of the camera. The flight model camera has successfully been integrated into the Herschel Composite and generated nice separation images. The spare model camera was refurbished and flown on the Exomars2016 mission as part of the Schiaparelli lander.

Instrument Description

The Visual Monitoring Camera on board Herschel-Planck (VMC-HP) was a stand-alone small digital camera with an addressable CMOS array detector, providing B&W images.
The camera objective has a square 60° x 60° FOV and is able to take sharp images between 3 m and infinity.
This camera has a mass of 0.6 kg, a low power consumption of less than 3 W (average) and dimensions of about 9 × 9 × 9 cm³. It can capture 15 images at 1,5 s intervals and store them in a local memory.

The flight spare model was renamed to DECA (DEscent CAmera) and worked flawlessly throughout its descent to the Martian surface, but unfortunately crash landed together with the Schiaparelli lander in 2016.

Mission

Herschel-Planck

The VMC-HP camera was successfully launched onboard ARIANE 5 ECA on 14 May 2009 from Europe’s spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana and took stunning images of the separation of ESA’s cosmic explorers. Exactly 26 minutes after launch the Visual Monitoring Camera onboard Herschel acquired a series of 15 breath-taking images of the separation of the Planck-Sylda composite, about 1150km above the East coast of Africa.

Exomars 2016

The DEscent CAmera (DECA) on Schiaparelli (ExoMars’ 2016 Entry, Descent & Landing Module) will image the landing site as it approaches the surface, as well as providing a measure of the Martian atmosphere’s transparency and to support the generation of a 3-D topography model of the surface of the landing region for the Exomars 2018 mission.
DECA is the re-named flight spare of the VMC (Visual Monitoring Camera), which flew on the Herschel spacecraft (2009).

OIP’s Participation

OIP, as a subcontractor for the former Alcatel-Alenia Space Group (F), currently Thales Alenia Space, was responsible for the full development of the camera.

The flight model camera has successfully been integrated into the Herschel Composite and generated nice separation images.

The spare model camera was refurbished and flown on the Exomars2016 mission as part of the Schiaparelli lander.

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