Gaia Radial Velocity Spectrometer

TL;DR

This paper details the design, development, and in-flight performance of Gaia's Radial Velocity Spectrometer, emphasizing its role in mapping the Galaxy's phase space for astrophysical research.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of the RVS instrument's specifications, design choices, technical challenges, and in-flight performance within the Gaia mission.

Findings

Successful in-flight performance at end of commissioning

Effective mitigation strategies for technical challenges

Alignment with initial performance predictions

Abstract

This paper presents the specification, design, and development of the Radial Velocity Spectrometer (RVS) on the European Space Agency's Gaia mission. Starting with the rationale for the full six dimensions of phase space in the dynamical modelling of the Galaxy, the scientific goals and derived top-level instrument requirements are discussed, leading to a brief description of the initial concepts for the instrument. The main part of the paper is a description of the flight RVS, considering the optical design, the focal plane, the detection and acquisition chain, and the as-built performance drivers and critical technical areas. After presenting the pre-launch performance predictions, the paper concludes with the post-launch developments and mitigation strategies, together with a summary of the in-flight performance at the end of commissioning.