NASA’s starshade technology development activity

Willems, P. A.; Lisman, Doug

doi:10.1117/1.jatis.7.2.021203

Cited by 5 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…E Q -T A R G E T ; t e m p : i n t r a l i n k -; e 0 1 3 ; 1 1 6 ; 1 4 9 δa j;l ≈ 3a t;j sin θ j r t;j ðâ t;j • r rel Þ ¼ 3Ra t;j sin θ j cos θ j r t;j ; (13) where j denotes the relevant body (1 for Sun and 2 for Earth), the subscript l denotes the lateral component of the acceleration, and θ j the angle between r rel and a t;j or equivalently between r rel and −r t;j . We will use a; r to denote the norms kak; krk, respectively.…”

Section: Approximate Minima Of Lateral Accelerationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Minimal differential lateral acceleration configurations for starshade stationkeeping in exoplanet direct imaging

Kulik

Soto

Savransky

2022

J. Astron. Telesc. Instrum. Syst.

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Exoplanet imaging missions utilizing an external occulter (starshade) for starlight suppression require precise alignment between the telescope and starshade, necessitating maintenance of the starshade orbit during observations. Differential lateral acceleration between the two spacecraft serves as a proxy for fuel use and number of required thruster firings, which may interrupt the observation. Comparison against results from high fidelity simulations of stationkeeping validates the use of this easy-to-compute proxy. Among starshade positions constrained to the surface of a sphere centered about the telescope, minima of differential lateral acceleration lie on a great circle and its corresponding poles. We present a closed expression for telescope to star vectors requiring minimal stationkeeping for observation from a telescope at an arbitrary position. This proxy metric along with analytical knowledge of optimal observations facilitates computationally efficient design of exoplanet imaging missions employing a starshade.

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Section: Approximate Minima Of Lateral Accelerationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This analysis of easily computable formation flying metrics and optimal configurations under them contributes to recent efforts geared toward analyzing requirements for and eventually planning starshade missions. 1,[11][12][13]…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Minimal differential lateral acceleration configurations for starshade stationkeeping in exoplanet direct imaging

Kulik

Soto

Savransky

2022

J. Astron. Telesc. Instrum. Syst.

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“…Program to advance starshade technology to TRL 5 in a time frame compatible with a starshade rendezvous with the Roman mission. 6,8 The work presented here was conducted under S5 to advance the seminal optical technology of starshades-starlight suppression. We group the experiments into two categories, "optical verification" and "model validation", which reflect the two milestones set as the criteria needed to reach TRL 5.…”

Section: The Starshade To Trl 5 (S5) Project Was Established By the N...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…[1][2][3] Their ability to achieve high contrast while maintaining high optical throughput and broad wavelength coverage make them the most promising technology to produce the first spectrum of an exo-Earth atmosphere. 4,5 In recent years there have been significant technological advances that demonstrate the feasibility of building and deploying a starshade, [6][7][8] which have led to a significant increase in the community's interest in a future starshade mission. There is interest in a starshade to rendezvous with NASA's next flagship mission, the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, 2 and a starshade is baselined for the proposed flagship mission, the Habitable Exoplanet Observatory (HabEx).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Optical Verification Experiments of Sub-scale Starshades

Harness,

Shaklan,

Willems

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Starshades are a leading technology to enable the detection and spectroscopic characterization of Earthlike exoplanets. In this paper we report on optical experiments of sub-scale starshades that advance critical starlight suppression technologies in preparation for the next generation of space telescopes. These experiments were conducted at the Princeton starshade testbed, an 80 m long enclosure testing 1/1000 th scale starshades at a flight-like Fresnel number. We demonstrate 10 −10 contrast at the starshade's geometric inner working angle across 10% of the visible spectrum, with an average contrast at the inner working angle of 2.0 × 10 −10 and contrast floor of 2 × 10 −11 . In addition to these high contrast demonstrations, we validate diffraction models to better than 35% accuracy through tests of intentionally flawed starshades. Overall, this suite of experiments reveals a deviation from scalar diffraction theory due to light propagating through narrow gaps between the starshade petals. We provide a model that accurately captures this effect at contrast levels below 10 −10 . The results of these experiments demonstrate that there are no optical impediments to building a starshade that provides sufficient contrast to detect Earth-like exoplanets. This work also sets an upper limit on the effect of unknowns in the diffraction model used to predict starshade performance and set tolerances on the starshade manufacture.

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“…This activity is "Starshade to TRL 5", or S5. The S5 Technology Development Plan (Willems 2018) will close the starshade gaps to TRL 5 by June 2023. The plan is phased to retire the highest risk elements, perform initial model validations, and demonstrate critical mechanical environments to TRL 4 for the Decadal Survey.…”

Section: Starshadementioning

confidence: 99%

Technology maturity update for the Habitable-zone Exoplanet Imaging Observatory (HabEx) concept

Morgan

Warfield

Stahl

et al. 2019

UV/Optical/IR Space Telescopes and Instruments: Innovative Technologies and Concepts IX

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Since the 2010 Decadal Survey, the technologies needed for direct imaging of exoplanets advanced significantly. NASA investment in these technologies, prioritized in the 2010 Decadal Survey, have ripened to a maturity to enable direct imaging of earthlike exoplanets. For the first time since the discovery of exoplanets, a direct imaging mission can be conceived to start in less than ten years, possibly as soon as five years.The HabEx Observatory Concept design utilizes technologies that are state of the art or near to state of the art with clear paths of development. The philosophy of the design favors as high a Technology Readiness Level (TRL) as possible to minimize risk. We discuss the HabEx technology challenges and asses the TRL expected by the submission of the Final Report in 2019. Many of the enabling technologies are at, or expected to be at, TRL 5 by 2019, and the remaining technologies are at TRL 4. We update the technology maturity roadmap with technology advances in the past year and expand it to include discussion of pathways to TRL 6. We assess the exoplanet-driven technologies of HabEx, including starshades, coronagraphs, deformable mirrors, wavefront control, 4 m aperture mirrors, jitter mitigation, segmented mirror stability, and low-noise detectors..

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NASA’s starshade technology development activity

Cited by 5 publications

References 8 publications

Minimal differential lateral acceleration configurations for starshade stationkeeping in exoplanet direct imaging

Minimal differential lateral acceleration configurations for starshade stationkeeping in exoplanet direct imaging

Optical Verification Experiments of Sub-scale Starshades

Technology maturity update for the Habitable-zone Exoplanet Imaging Observatory (HabEx) concept

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