The scientific investigations of small solid particles from interplanetary space provides important information regarding comets, asteroids, and even the formation of the solar system. Applied Research Corporation (ARC) proposes to design and develop a fast ultraviolet (UV) spectrometer with a wide spectral response and large field of view to study meteoroid phenomena. The high sensitivity and superior resolution realized by the advanced technology components ensure the development of an optical system to obtain exceptional quality data for the first time in UV wavelength region (1000-3200 A). The absence of high near-infrared background in the low earth orbit is particularly suitable for the observation of weak features of atomic species, both neutral and ionized, present in the meteoric debris, including silicon (as SiO) and carbon (as C I and C II) in the iron free window available between 1000-2000A. The possibility of observing Lyman alpha meteors and rare anomalous composition meteors is very exciting. This observation can lead to the proper association of meteor showers to specific comets. ARC will investigate the feasibility of integrating state-of-the-art dispersive elements, detector systems and optical components in the UV spectrometer.Application envisioned in monitoring transient phenomena in fusion plasmas, mineralogical surveys for detecting volcanic activities, time-resolved fluorescence study of biosamples, ion microscopy, speckle imaging and surface analysis.
Keywords: Phase_I, NASA, Abstract, FY94
