Design, Development and Testing of a Scan Focus Mechanism for the SPICE Instrument

The Scan and Focus Mechanism (SFM) is one of four mechanisms within the SPICE (SPectral Imaging of the Coronal Environment) instrument and is used to provide scan rotation and linear focus adjustment for the instrument’s primary mirror. The design of the mechanism is based around the use of two titanium flexure based stages which provide compliance in the required degrees of freedom and high stiffness and stability in others. This paper presents an overview of the design and qualification activities carried out to date and discusses lessons learned.