augmenting atlast - nasa
TRANSCRIPT
AugmentingATLAST
SustainingGoddardLeadershipontheRoadtothe2020DecadalSurvey
March2015
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Thewilltowinmeansnothingwithoutthewilltoprepare!
Hubble
Spitzer
Kepler
JWST
TESS
AFTA
New Worlds Telescope
Ground-based Observatories
2001DecadalSurvey
2010DecadalSurvey
NASA’sExoplanet &AstrophysicsFacilities
Adapted from invited Goddard Symposium talk by J. Grunsfeld (Mar 11, 2015)
• FY2015isa“watershedyear,”withmajoropportunitiesforATLASTanditscompetitors
• Theprioritysciencegoalsand10m-classreferencedesignisverywell-regarded
– AURA’sBeyondJWST reporthasrecommendedthatamissionnearlyidenticaltoATLASTfollowWFIRST/AFTA
– Ourteamhasbeenapproachedbycandidateinternationalandindustrypartners
• PrioritychallengeforanATLASTwinisperceivedtechnologyreadinessbyearly2020s
– TheExoplanet ProgramOfficeispreparedtoaugmentrelevanttechfundinginFY16andSMDastrophysicsisputtinginan“overguide”augmentationtoFY17
– WeareseekinganFY15fundingaugmentationtoacceleratetechnologydevelopmentintwo(ofthree)keyareas
• Assessmentanddesignworkofstarlightsuppression(partiallymatchedbyJPL)
• Advanceddesignofopticalwavefront sensingandcontrol3
LedbyGSFCandincludingJPL,STScI,andMSFC,ouroverarchinggoalistowintheAstrophysicsNRC2020DecadalSurvey
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Our technology must be ready and our design sufficiently detailed.We must be seen more often, be better prepared, and in more
places than our competitors.We must be prepared to meet with candidate industrial and
international partners.GSFC’s priorities, as well as our partners, must be unambiguous.Our visualizations must impress and our media presence widely
accessed (via STScI).Are we preparing to face the NRC?
Facing the 2020 NRC Decadal Survey Committee
In 2010: twenty-three professionals from twenty institutions supported by 120 colleagues in ten panels
• ATLAST’sscientific“killerapp”isthedetectionofbiosignatures inthespectraofexoplanets aroundstarsinthesolarneighborhood:Arewealone?
– Thisrequiresmajorprogressintwokeytechnologies:starlightsuppressionandoverallsystemsstability
• Starlightsuppression:MatchedbyJPLfunding,wearerequesting$200KinCY15tojointlysupport[four]coronagraphteamstoassessfeasibilityoftheirdesignstosuppressstarlightinalarge-aperturesegmentedobservatory
– ResultswillbesubmittedtoStuartShaklan (JPL)forapples-to-applescomparison
– Wearerequesting$100K inCY15tofundJPLassessmentofstarshadeoptionforstarlightsuppression
• Systemsstability:ATLASTrequiresmechanicalandthermalstabilitybeyondthatwhichhaseverbeenachieved,requiringexplorationviasophisticatedintegratedmodeling
– AsthesmallnumberofGSFCintegratedmodelersarefullyoccupied,wearerequesting$75KforCarlBlaurock (NightSkySystems,Inc.),oneoftheworldexperts,toexpandhisworkonthisactivity.
• AlthoughourJPL,STScI,andMSFCpartnersinATLASThavebeenexcellent,itisessentialthatGSFCmaintainleadershipbybeingthe“face”ofthemissiontotheprofessionalcommunities.
– WerequestcontinuedseniorCentersupportforprofessionalengagementandoutreach 5
AugmentedFundingtoAccelerateGSFC-ledATLASTTechnologyReadinessandMitigateRisk