The Origins Space Telescope (OST) will trace the history of our origins from the time dust and heavy elements permanently altered the cosmic landscape to present-day life. How did the universe evolve in response to its changing ingredients? How common are life-bearing planets? To accomplish its scientific objectives, OST will operate at mid-and far-infrared wavelengths and offer superlative sensitivity and new spectroscopic capabilities.The OST study team will present a scientifically compelling, executable mission concept to the 2020 Decadal Survey in Astrophysics. To understand the concept solution space, our team studied two alternative mission concepts. We report on the study approach and describe both of these concepts, give the rationale for major design decisions, and briefly describe the mission-enabling technology.
The Origins Space Telescope will trace the history of our origins from the time dust and heavy elements permanently altered the cosmic landscape to present-day life. How did galaxies evolve from the earliest galactic systems to those found in the Universe today? How do habitable planets form? How common are life-bearing worlds? To answer these alluring questions, Origins will operate at mid-and far-infrared (IR) wavelengths and offer powerful spectroscopic instruments and sensitivity three orders of magnitude better than that of the Herschel Space Observatory, the largest telescope flown in space to date. We describe the baseline concept for Origins recommended to the 2020 US Decadal Survey in Astronomy and Astrophysics. The baseline design includes a 5.9-m diameter telescope cryocooled to 4.5 K and equipped with three scientific instruments. A mid-infrared instrument (Mid-Infrared Spectrometer and Camera Transit spectrometer) will measure the spectra of transiting exoplanets in the 2.8 to 20 μm wavelength range and offer unprecedented spectrophotometric precision, enabling definitive exoplanet biosignature detections. The far-IR imager polarimeter will be able to survey thousands of square degrees with broadband imaging at 50 and 250 μm. The Origins Survey Spectrometer will cover wavelengths from 25 to 588 μm, making wide-area and deep spectroscopic surveys with spectral resolving power R ∼ 300, and pointed observations at R ∼ 40;000 and 300,000 with selectable instrument modes. Origins was designed to minimize complexity. The architecture is similar to that of the Spitzer Space Telescope and requires very few deployments after launch, while the cryothermal system design leverages James Webb Space Telescope technology and experience. A combination of current-state-of-the-art cryocoolers and next-generation detector technology will enable Origins' natural background-limited sensitivity. © The Authors. Published by SPIE under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Unported License. Distribution or reproduction of this work in whole or in part requires full attribution of the original publication, including its DOI.
Micro Electromechanical System (MEMS) microshutter arrays are being developed at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center for use as a field selector of the Near Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec) on the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). The microshutter arrays are designed for the spontaneous selection of a large number of objects in the sky and the transmission of light to the NIRSpec detector with high contrast. The JWST environment requires cryogenic operation at 35K. Microshutter arrays are fabricated out of silicon-on-insulator (SOI) silicon wafers. Arrays are closepacked silicon nitride membranes with a pixel size of 100x200 m. Individual shutters are patterned with a torsion flexure permitting shutters to open 90 degrees with a minimized mechanical stress concentration. Light shields are processed for blocking light from gaps between shutters and frames. The mechanical shutter arrays are fabricated using MEMS technologies. The processing includes multi-layer metal depositions, the patterning of magnetic stripes and shutter electrodes, a reactive ion etching (RIE) to form shutters out of the nitride membrane, an anisotropic back-etch for wafer thinning, followed by a deep RIE (DRIE) back-etch to form mechanical supporting grids and release shutters from the silicon substrate. An additional metal deposition is used to form back electrodes. Shutters are actuated by a magnetic force and latched using an electrostatic force. Optical tests, addressing tests, and life tests are conducted to evaluate the performance and the reliability of microshutter arrays.
The Origins Space Telescope (OST) is the mission concept for the Far-Infrared Surveyor, one of the four science and technology definition studies of NASA Headquarters for the 2020 Astronomy and Astrophysics Decadal survey. "Concept-1" is a cold (4 K) 9 m space telescope with five instruments, while "concept 2" consists of a cold 5.9 m telescope and four instruments, providing imaging and spectroscopic capabilities between 5µm and 600µm. The sensitivity provided by the observatory will be a three to four orders of magnitude improvement over currently achieved observational capabilities, allowing to address a wide range of new and so far inaccessible scientific questions, ranging from bio-signatures in the atmospheres of exo-planets to the production of the first metals in the universe right after the end of re-ionization.Here we present the Far Infrared Imager and Polarimeter (FIP) for OST. The camera will cover four bands, 50µm, 100µm, 250µm, and 500µm. In the "concept 1" version of the instrument, FIP will allow for differential polarimetry with the ability to observe two colors simultaneously, while all four bands can be observed simultaneously in total power mode . The confusion limit in the total power mode will be reached in only 8 ms at 500µm, while at 50µm the source density in the sky is so low that at OST's angular resolution of ∼ 2" in this band the source confusion limit will only be reached after about two hours of integration with the "concept-2" version of FIP ("concept-1" FIP will not be confusion limited at 50µm, no matter how long it integrates). Science topics that can be addressed by the camera include, but are not limited to, galactic and extragalactic magnetic field studies, deep galaxy surveys, and outer Solar System objects.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.