Technology development for the Advanced Technology Large Aperture Space Telescope (ATLAST) as a candidate large UV-Optical-Infrared (LUVOIR) surveyor

Matthew R. Bolcar; Kunjithapatham Balasubramanian; Mark Clampin; Julie Crooke; Lee Feinberg; Marc Postman; Manuel Quijada; Bernard Rauscher; David Redding; Norman Rioux; Stuart Shaklan; H. Philip Stahl; Carl Stahle; Harley Thronson Jr.

doi:10.1117/12.2188559

22 September 2015 Technology development for the Advanced Technology Large Aperture Space Telescope (ATLAST) as a candidate large UV-Optical-Infrared (LUVOIR) surveyor

Matthew R. Bolcar, Kunjithapatham Balasubramanian, Mark Clampin, Julie Crooke, Lee Feinberg, Marc Postman, Manuel Quijada, Bernard Rauscher, David Redding, Norman Rioux, Stuart Shaklan, H. Philip Stahl, Carl Stahle, Harley Thronson Jr.

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 9602, UV/Optical/IR Space Telescopes and Instruments: Innovative Technologies and Concepts VII; 960209 (2015) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2188559
Event: SPIE Optical Engineering + Applications, 2015, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

The Advanced Technology Large Aperture Space Telescope (ATLAST) team has identified five key technologies to enable candidate architectures for the future large-aperture ultraviolet/optical/infrared (LUVOIR) space observatory envisioned by the NASA Astrophysics 30-year roadmap, Enduring Quests, Daring Visions. The science goals of ATLAST address a broad range of astrophysical questions from early galaxy and star formation to the processes that contributed to the formation of life on Earth, combining general astrophysics with direct-imaging and spectroscopy of habitable exoplanets. The key technologies are: internal coronagraphs, starshades (or external occulters), ultra-stable large-aperture telescopes, detectors, and mirror coatings. Selected technology performance goals include: 1x10^-10 raw contrast at an inner working angle of 35 milli-arcseconds, wavefront error stability on the order of 10 pm RMS per wavefront control step, autonomous on-board sensing and control, and zero-read-noise single-photon detectors spanning the exoplanet science bandpass between 400 nm and 1.8 μm. Development of these technologies will provide significant advances over current and planned observatories in terms of sensitivity, angular resolution, stability, and high-contrast imaging. The science goals of ATLAST are presented and flowed down to top-level telescope and instrument performance requirements in the context of a reference architecture: a 10-meter-class, segmented aperture telescope operating at room temperature (~290 K) at the sun-Earth Lagrange-2 point. For each technology area, we define best estimates of required capabilities, current state-of-the-art performance, and current Technology Readiness Level (TRL) – thus identifying the current technology gap. We report on current, planned, or recommended efforts to develop each technology to TRL 5.

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Matthew R. Bolcar, Kunjithapatham Balasubramanian, Mark Clampin, Julie Crooke, Lee Feinberg, Marc Postman, Manuel Quijada, Bernard Rauscher, David Redding, Norman Rioux, Stuart Shaklan, H. Philip Stahl, Carl Stahle, and Harley Thronson Jr. "Technology development for the Advanced Technology Large Aperture Space Telescope (ATLAST) as a candidate large UV-Optical-Infrared (LUVOIR) surveyor", Proc. SPIE 9602, UV/Optical/IR Space Telescopes and Instruments: Innovative Technologies and Concepts VII, 960209 (22 September 2015); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2188559

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