517 ISSN 0038-0946, Solar System Research, 2019, Vol. 53, No. 7, pp. 517–521. © Pleiades Publishing, Inc., 2019. Russian Text © The Author(s), 2018, published in Vestnik NPO imeni S.A. Lavochkina, 2018, No. 3, pp. 31–36. Field Camera Unit of the Spektr-UF Mission: New Design and Scientific Tasks M. E. Sachkov a, *, S. G. Sichevsky a, **, B. M. Shustov a, ***, E. N. Kanev a, ****, and A. S. Shugarov a, ***** a Institute of Astronomy, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia *e-mail: msachkov@inasan.ru **e-mail: s.sichevskij@gmail.com ***e-mail: bshustov@inasan.ru ****e-mail: kanev@inasan.ru *****e-mail: shugarov@inasan.ru Received July 19, 2018 Abstract—Spektr-UF is a multipurpose space observatory equipped with a telescope with a primary mirror 170 cm in diameter. The main task of the observatory is obtaining high-resolution spectra of cosmic objects and images of diffraction quality in the UV region (115–310 nm). For the solution of the second task, the Field Camera Unit (FCU) is intended. The design of the FCU changed in the course of work on the project. In this paper, we describe the current version of the FCU and the main scientific tasks to be accomplished with the instrument. Its characteristics are compared to those of the cameras of the Hubble Space Telescope. Keywords: ultraviolet astronomy, space missions, imager DOI: 10.1134/S0038094619070207 INTRODUCTION The goal of the Spektr-UF project is to construct a space observatory for conducting observations in vac- uum and the near-UV ranges of the electromagnetic spectrum (110–310 nm). The Spektr-UF project is also known both in the Russian and international astronomical community under the name of World Space Observatory—Ultraviolet (Boyarchuk et al., 2013; Boyarchuk et al., 2014; Shustov et al., 2014). Its main purpose is a detailed study of individual astro- nomical objects by means of UV spectroscopy and high-quality imaging in a relatively small field of view (up to 10 arcminutes) (see Wiebe, 2016; Makarova and Makarov, 2016; Boyarchuk et al., 2016; Sachkov et al., 2014a). The scientific program of the Spektr-UF project consists of the Core Program, the Guarantee time of the project partners, and the Open program formed on a competitive basis from the best applications of the astronomical community (Malkov et al., 2011). The basic program of the project is aimed at solving key scientific problems in the following areas: —Galaxy formation: distribution of diffuse baryonic matter in the Universe and its chemical evolution. —Structure and evolution of the Galaxy. —Physics of accretion and outflow of matter. —Exoplanetary atmospheres and astrochemistry in the presence of strong UV radiation. These tasks are planned to be solved by means of a field camera unit (FCU) and a Block of spectrographs (WSO-UV spectrographs, WUVS) included in the project. For a detailed description of the WUVS, see (Reutlinger et al., 2011; Panchuk et al., 2014; Sachkov et al., 2014a, 2014b). The main characteristics of the FCU are discussed below. Readers who are interested in the current state and prospects for the development of UV astronomy technologies are recommended to refer to (Sachkov, 2014a; Shustov et al., 2014; Efanov et al., 2018). 1. SCIENTIFIC TASKS OF THE FCU A detailed discussion of the scientific program of the Spektr-UF project in general can be found in (Boyarchuk et al., 2016). The scientific committee of the project has formed the prospective observational program, which includes the list of problems that use the advantages of the FCU. Let us list these problems (the FCU charac- teristics that are important for solving each specific problem are shown in parentheses):