The Spacelab Instrument Pointing System performance and operations

This paper gives a summary description of the Instrument Pointing System which is a subsystem of the Spacelab providing a versatile three axis pointing capability to any experiment requiring precision orientation towards celestial objects in the arc-second range. A general description of the mechanical and electrical configuration is followed by a more detailed discussion of the software and controller concept and its operational capabilities. Based on very detailed performance simulation runs and on the preliminary results of the first flight of IPS on the SL-2 mission, a summary of the performance capabilities in dependence of the payload characteristics and mission configuration is presented and discussed.