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Canada's Contribution

Testing of the Canadian FTS at the SPIRE Test facilities (Photo : University of Lethbridge)

Canada contributed to the Herschel Space Observatory by taking part in the development of two of the three science instruments. For HIFI, Canada contributed the local oscillator source unit (LSU) which is the device that provides the reference signal required for the instrument to operate properly. For SPIRE, Canada provided the ground-based Fourier transform spectrometer used to test and calibrate the instrument, as well as data processing software. SPIRE's wide field of view will enable observation of a vast region of the sky, while HIFI will enable observation of a fixed point in the sky. Canadian scientists flew a prototype of the SPIRE instrument, called BLAST, on a stratospheric balloon, validating instrument performance and spurring development of the data-reduction software.

Professor Michel Fich of the University of Waterloo is the Principal Investigator for HIFI in Canada. Professor David Naylor of the University of Lethbridge is the Principal Investigator for Canada's contribution to SPIRE. COM DEV is the prime contractor for the LSU. With financing from the Canadian Space Agency, Blue Sky Spectroscopy is one of the project centres of expertise for the SPIRE spectrometer, and has developed Data Processing and Science Analysis Software for the FTS.