Deployment technologies for terrestrial planet finding missions

Charles F. Lillie; Dean R. Dailey; Amy S. Lo; Ronald S. Polidan; Jonathan W. Arenberg; Tiffany Glassman

doi:10.1117/12.789594

28 July 2008 Deployment technologies for terrestrial planet finding missions

Charles F. Lillie, Dean R. Dailey, Amy S. Lo, Ronald S. Polidan, Jonathan W. Arenberg, Tiffany Glassman

Proceedings Volume 7018, Advanced Optical and Mechanical Technologies in Telescopes and Instrumentation; 70181V (2008) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.789594
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2008, Marseille, France

Abstract

The detection and characterization of exo-solar planets, which are 25 to 30 magnitudes fainter than their (5th to 6th visual magnitude) central stars, requires large aperture telescopes that must be folded to fit within the payload fairings of existing launch vehicles, and then deployed after reaching orbit. Many other elements of the various terrestrial planet finding observatories which have been proposed also must be deployed on orbit, including sunshades, solar arrays, high gain antennas and the external occulters ("starshades") that we have been designing for a "New Worlds Observer" mission. In this paper we discuss the requirements, tolerances, design options and technology readiness levels for deployment technologies for TPF-Coronagraph, -Interferometer, and -Occulter missions and describe our strawman design concepts.

Citation Download Citation

Charles F. Lillie, Dean R. Dailey, Amy S. Lo, Ronald S. Polidan, Jonathan W. Arenberg, and Tiffany Glassman "Deployment technologies for terrestrial planet finding missions", Proc. SPIE 7018, Advanced Optical and Mechanical Technologies in Telescopes and Instrumentation, 70181V (28 July 2008); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.789594

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available