CCD cameras and Spacewire interfaces for HERSCHEL/SCORE suborbital mission

The HERSCHEL/SCORE is a suborbital mission that will observe the solarcorona in UV (H Ly and HeII Ly) and in the visible light for measurements of coronal polarization. The coronagraph for such observation is an Italian instrument and, in particular,the CCD camera detectors are developed at the XUVLab of the Department of Astronomyand Space Science of the University of Florence. Such detectors communicate with the onboard computer by means of a IEEE1355 Spacewire standard interface board (developed in our laboratories) and implement a lot of smart and custom procedures for imaging. The main innovation of SCORE coronagraph is the first use in space of a variable retarder plate based on liquid crystals and the optical design capable of simultaneous observation in UV and Visible light.