BC-SIM-TN-013 STC Inflight Dark Calibration

Abstract

In this document, we reported the history of the tests performed on the STC detector in the first two years of the BepiColombo’s cruise phase. The scope of these tests was to monitor the dark current behavior of the STC channel’s detector. A detailed description is provided for each test phase: data acquired, the deducted results and conclusions. The STC Channel is part of SIMBIO-SYS, a scientific payload of the BepiColombo ESA-JAXA mission to Mercury. During the NECP (Near-Earth Commissioning Phase ), all the initial commissioning activities were completed and the three channels of SIMBIO-SYS have operated properly demonstrating that all the channels and subsystems worked nominally. Since then, every six months different instrument checkouts have been carried-out to check the performance of the three SIMBIO-SYS channels and improve their calibration. This document reports the conclusion on the Dark calibration of STC Channel due to the analysis of the ICOs tests.