An evolvable space telescope for future astronomical missions
Abstract
Astronomical flagship missions after JWST will require affordable space telescopes and science instruments. Innovative spacecraft-electro-opto-mechanical system architectures matched to the science requirements are needed for observations for exoplanet characterization, cosmology, dark energy, galactic evolution formation of stars and planets, and many other research areas. The needs and requirements to perform this science will continue to drive us toward larger and larger apertures. Recent technology developments in precision station keeping of spacecraft, interplanetary transfer orbits, wavefront/sensing and control, laser engineering, macroscopic application of nano-technology, lossless optical designs, deployed structures, thermal management, interferometry, detectors and signal processing enable innovative telescope/system architectures with break-through performance. Unfortunately, NASA's budget for Astrophysics is unlikely to be able to support the funding required for the 8 m to 16 m telescopes that have been studied as a follow-on to JWST using similar development/assembly approaches without decimating the rest of the Astrophysics Division's budget. Consequently, we have been examining the feasibility of developing an "Evolvable Space Telescope" that would begin as a 3 to 4 m telescope when placed on orbit and then periodically be augmented with additional mirror segments, structures, and newer instruments to evolve the telescope and achieve the performance of a 16 m or larger space telescope. This paper reviews the approach for such a mission and identifies and discusses candidate architectures.
Additional Information
© 2014 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE). The authors would like to acknowledge strong support and internal funding from Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems and very helpful comments, suggestions, and criticisms from a variety of people, including Jonathan Arenberg, Alberto Conti, Lee Feinberg, Marc Postman, Theodore Swanson, and Harley Thronson.Attached Files
Published - 914319.pdf
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Additional details
- Eprint ID
- 87981
- Resolver ID
- CaltechAUTHORS:20180718-160040918
- Northrop Grumman Corporation
- Created
-
2018-07-18Created from EPrint's datestamp field
- Updated
-
2021-11-16Created from EPrint's last_modified field
- Caltech groups
- GALCIT
- Series Name
- Proceedings of SPIE
- Series Volume or Issue Number
- 9143