Scan angle is not the main risk
A +/-45 degree field of regard is within the class of operational scanners; the harder problem is preserving geolocation, image quality, and radiometry across the scan.
Narrated design heritage
Scan-mirror mission survey
A ten-minute narrated walkthrough of the scan-mirror and pushbroom heritage that matters before designing a wide-swath infrared fire observation payload.
Watch
What previous scan-mirror designs say about the next design choice.
Design takeaways
The heritage is useful only when it is turned into system requirements.
SLSTR is the strongest fire reference
Its thermal channels, dual-view scanning, calibration views, and operational fire products show why optics, calibration, and products must be designed together.
Pushbroom is the honest counter-case
Landsat and commercial optical missions show why detector maturity can beat scanning; thermal infrared may shift the penalty back toward a smaller scanned detector.
Validate the coupled chain early
The first workpackage should test scan range, angle knowledge, jitter, flyback, lifetime, and radiometric stability rather than treating the mirror as a simple actuator.
Make the argument reviewable
The storyboard handoff turns the same evidence into a ten-panel review sequence without adding new technical claims.