• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.20 no.1 s.24
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• pp.143-149
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• 2005

KASI (Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute) is developing the near-infrared camera system named KASINICS (KASI Near-Infrared Camera System) which will be installed at the 60cm f/13.5 Ritchey-Chretien telescope of the Sobaeksan Optical Astronomy Observatory (SOAO). The camera system is optimized for JHKL bands and has a 6 arcmin FOV. The optical system consists of two spherical mirrors and a 8-position filter wheel. With the exception for the dewar window, all optical elements are cooled inside cryogenic dewar. Since the Offner system is adopted to prevent thermal noises from outside of the telescope primary mirror, the secondary mirror of the Offner system acts as a cold Lyot stop. The optical performance does not change by temperature variations because the Aluminum mirrors contract and expand homogeneously with its mount. We finished the design and fabrication of the optical parts and are now aligning the optical system. We plan to have a test observation on 2006 January.

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.253-261
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• 2018

Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute (KASI) has been developing the space optical and laser tracking (SOLT) system for space geodesy, space situational awareness, and Korean space missions. The SOLT system comprises satellite laser ranging (SLR), adaptive optics (AO), and debris laser tracking (DLT) systems, which share numerous subsystems, such as an optical telescope and tracking mount. It is designed to be capable of laser ranging up to geosynchronous Earth orbit satellites with a laser retro-reflector array, space objects imaging brighter than magnitude 10, and laser tracking low Earth orbit space debris of uncooperative targets. For the realization of multiple functions in a novel configuration, the SOLT system employs a switching mirror that is installed inside the telescope pedestal and feeds the beam path to each system. The SLR and AO systems have already been established at the Geochang station, whereas the DLT system is currently under development and the AO system is being prepared for testing. In this study, the design and development of the SOLT system are addressed and the SLR data quality is evaluated compared to the International Laser Ranging Service (ILRS) tracking stations in terms of single-shot ranging precision. The analysis results indicate that the SLR system has a good ranging performance, to a few millimeters precision. Therefore, it is expected that the SLR system will not only play an important role as a member of the ILRS tracking network, but also contribute to future Korean space missions.

• Korean Journal of Optics and Photonics
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• v.15 no.5
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• pp.455-460
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• 2004

We have developed a mode-locked ultra-short pulse C $r^{4+}$:YAG laser, as well as a continuous wave C $r^{4+}$:YAG laser. The laser was pumped by a Nd:YAG laser and its characteristics were investigated. In continuous wave mode, we obtained as much as 600 mW at 1.436 ${\mu}{\textrm}{m}$ with pumping power of 6 W, by using an output coupler with a reflectivity of 98%. The power slope efficiency was 10%, when the gain medium was cooled to 19$^{\circ}C$. The tuning range was varied from 1.39 ${\mu}{\textrm}{m}$ to 1.55 ${\mu}{\textrm}{m}$ and the maximum power was 400 mW at 1.492 ${\mu}{\textrm}{m}$ with a 3-plate birefringent filter. The C $r^{4+}$:YAG laser was mode-locked by a Kerr lens mode locking method. Mode locking at 1.436 ${\mu}{\textrm}{m}$was initiated by slightly rocking a mirror mount. But the pulses were very unstable because of the strong water absorption at this region. So we shifted the lasing wavelength to 1.492 ${\mu}{\textrm}{m}$ by using a 3-plate birefringent filter. Then we obtained stable state mode-locking with the maximum average power of 280 mW for a pumping power of 6 W. The pulse width of 43 fs was measured using an autocorrelator and the repetition rate was 104.5 MHz.