1,1,- 1INAF Osservatorio Astronomico di Palermo, Palermo, Italy
- 2Università degli Studi di Firenze, Dipartimento di Ingegneria, Firenze, Italy
- 3Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Departamento Universitario MECÁNICA DE FLUIDOS Y PROPULSIÓN AEROESPACIAL, Madrid, Spain
- 4Università degli Studi di Firenze, Dipartimento di Fisica, Firenze, Italy
- 5INAF Osservatorio Astrofisico di Arcetri, Firenze, Italy
- 6ZERICAD di Maurizio Filizzolo, Palermo, Italy
- 7Università degli Studi di Palermo, Dipartimenti di Fisica e Chimica, Palermo, Italy
- *A full list of authors appears at the end of the abstract
ARIEL (Atmospheric Remote-sensing Infrared Exoplanet Large-survey) is an ESA mission scheduled for launch around 2030, aimed at investigating the atmospheres of exoplanets through infrared spectroscopy. To support the ground qualification of the Primary Mirror - Structural Model (M1 - SM), INAF – Osservatorio Astronomico di Palermo is converting the historic XACT (X-ray Astronomy Calibration and Test) chamber into a cryogenic vacuum facility dedicated to low-temperature, high-vacuum testing.
The new facility will operate at pressures of 7×10-7 mbar and reach cryogenic temperatures ∼90 K, achieved through a Helium recirculation cooling system. The setup will be measured using a 4D technology interferometer, capable of rapidly capturing the surface shape of the mirror while minimizing the influence of environmental fluctuations during the measurement process. The test campaign will provide key data on the temperature distribution over the mirror and support the validation of thermal and mechanical FEM (Finite Element Method) models developed for the mission, both with and without flexure-based mounting systems.
The infrastructure is fully compatible with the SM's mounting and handling requirements and has been designed to be reconvertible for future XACT applications, ensuring experimental flexibility. Local execution of the test campaign on M1 SM will allow direct validation of the component’s behavior under realistic environmental conditions, reducing the reliance on simulations alone and contributing to optimizing the final flight configuration.
The facility will remain available for future test campaigns involving optical and structural components intended for space applications in visible and Infrared wavelengths, reinforcing INAF Palermo’s role as a national reference center for vacuum and cryogenic environmental qualification.
Fabio D’Anca, Elisa Guerriero, Alfonso Collura, Giuseppina Micela, Antonio Scippa, Alejandro Jose Fernandez, Javier Perez, Emanuele Pace, Giampaolo Preti, Paolo Picchi, Andrea Tozzi, Maurizio Filizzolo, Salvatore Varisco, Claudio Saitta, Alberto Gulizzi, Davide Vincenzo Cardinale, Michela Todaro, Luisa Sciortino, Ugo Lo Cicero, Marco Barbera , Gaspare Di Cicca, Roberto Candia, Paolo Chioetto, Enzo Pascale, Riccardo Lilli, Daniele Gottini, Anna Brucalassi, Paola Zuppella, Gianluca Morgante, Andrea Bocchieri, Angelo Olivieri, Daniele Brienza, Elisabetta Tommasi
How to cite: Guerriero, E., D'Anca, F., Collura, A., Micela, G., Scippa, A., Fernandez, A. J., Perez, J., Pace, E., Preti, G., Picchi, P., Tozzi, A., Filizzolo, M., Varisco, S., Saitta, C., Gulizzi, A., Cardinale, D. V., Todaro, M., Sciortino, L., Lo Cicero, U., and Barbera, M. and the Ariel Telescope Assembly Team, INAF Laboratory of Palermo & ASI Ariel TEAM: Development of a Cryogenic Vacuum Facility for Structural and Thermal Testing of ARIEL’s Primary Mirror (M1 SM) at INAF Palermo, EPSC-DPS Joint Meeting 2025, Helsinki, Finland, 7–12 Sep 2025, EPSC-DPS2025-567, https://doi.org/10.5194/epsc-dps2025-567, 2025.
