Visible and infrared mapping spectrometer for exploration of comets, asteroids, and the Saturnian system of rings and moons

Consideration is given to a visible and infrared mapping spectrometer (VIMS) developed by American, Italian, and French scientists and engineers as a facility instrument for the Comet Rendezvous Asteroid Flyby (CRAF) mission and as a candidate facility instrument for the Cassini mission to explore Saturn and its rings and moons. VIMS is characterized by 0.35-5.2 micron spectral range with a nominal spatial resolution of 0.5 mrad and spectral resolutions of 7 nm at 0.35-1.0 micron wavelength and 16 nm at 1.0-5.2 micron wavelength.