Astrophysics Strategic Mission Concept Studies

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Astrophysics Strategic Mission Concept Studies [AMSCS] is an program within the National Aeronautics and Space Administration agency of the United States government for possible projects leading to probable prospective missions.

Contents

History

Pre-proposal workshops were held in October 2007. [1] [2] The Astrophysics Strategic Mission Concept Studies (ASMCS) awards were made in the spring of 2008.

Exoplanets

Proposals for the study of planets external to the Solar System [3] include; the evaluation of the most effective means for the direct studies of exoplanets provided affirmation for the use of starshades. [4] [5] Planet Hunter Deep search of 65 nearby stars for Earth analogs. [6] Mark Clampin/Goddard Space flight centre - Extrasolar planet imaging coronograph-to produce fundamental physical characteristics of giant planets in other planetary systems. [7] Detecting Extrasolar Planets by Sharing the Burden [8]

ACCESS, Actively Corrected Coronagraph Exoplanet System Studies

The actively corrected coronograph for exoplanet system studies. The principal investigator of this project is J.Trauger [9] working at the California Jet propulsion laboratory. [10] [11]

PECO, Pupil Mapping Exoplanet Coronograph

Pupil mapping exoplanet coronograph is a 1.4 metre optical telescope fitted with a phase-induced amplitude apodization coronagraph, to image and characterize nearby exoplanets and zodiacal dust in stars zones considered to contain planets habitable to possible life. The main investigator is Olivier Guyon from the University of Arizona. [12]

DAViNCI, Dilute Aperture Visible Nulling Coronograph

Dilute aperture visible nulling coronograph project is a 1.1 metre telescope array. The lead investigator is Michael Shao. [13]

Additional proposals

See also

Related Research Articles

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Spitzer Space Telescope Infrared space telescope

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Harvard–Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics Astronomical observatory in Massachusetts, US

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New Worlds Mission

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Konkoly Observatory Observatory

Konkoly Observatory is an astronomical observatory located in Budapest, Hungary is part of the Research Centre for Astronomy and Earth Sciences and belongs to the Eötvös Loránd Kutatási Hálózat. It was founded in 1871 by Hungarian astronomer Miklós Konkoly-Thege (1842–1916) as a private observatory, and was donated to the state in 1899. Konkoly Observatory, officially known as ELKH CSFK Konkoly Thege Miklós Csillagászati Intézet in Hungarian, is the largest astronomical research institute in Hungary, and hosts the largest telescopes in the country. The Observatory has more than 60 researchers, a quarter of them are non-Hungarian.

Apollo Telescope Mount Solar observatory on Skylab

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Heidi Hammel Planetary astronomer

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SPICA (spacecraft)

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Gemini Planet Imager

The Gemini Planet Imager (GPI) is a high contrast imaging instrument that was built for the Gemini South Telescope in Chile. The instrument achieves high contrast at small angular separations, allowing for the direct imaging and integral field spectroscopy of extrasolar planets around nearby stars. The collaboration involved in planning and building the Gemini Planet imager includes the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH), Dunlap Institute, Gemini Observatory, Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics (HIA), Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Lawrence Livermore National Lab (LLNL), Lowell Observatory, SETI Institute, The Space Telescope Science Institute (STSCI), the University of Montreal, University of California, Berkeley, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC), University of Georgia.

Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope Infrared space telescope

The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is a NASA infrared space telescope currently under development. Roman was recommended in 2010 by the United States National Research Council Decadal Survey committee as the top priority for the next decade of astronomy. On February 17, 2016, WFIRST was approved for development and launch.

Fast Infrared Exoplanet Spectroscopy Survey Explorer

Fast Infrared Exoplanet Spectroscopy Survey Explorer (FINESSE) was a NASA mission proposal for a space observatory operating in the Near-infrared spectrum for the Medium-Class Explorers program. The Principal Investigator was Mark Swain of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.

Vortex coronagraph

A vortex coronagraph is a type of optical instrument which enables the imaging of very faint objects near very bright objects that would normally be obscured by glare. For example, extrasolar planets near their host star as seen from Earth or space telescopes in Earth's solar system. It is a type of coronagraph.

Exoplanetary Circumstellar Environments and Disk Explorer(EXCEDE) is a proposed space telescope for NASA's Explorer program to observe circumstellar protoplanetary and debris discs and study planet formation around nearby stars of spectral classes M to B. Had it been selected for development, it was proposed to launch in 2019.

Large Ultraviolet Optical Infrared Surveyor Proposed space telescope in NASAs program of large strategic science missions

The Large Ultraviolet Optical Infrared Surveyor, commonly known as LUVOIR, is a multi-wavelength space telescope concept being developed by NASA under the leadership of a Science and Technology Definition Team. It is one of four large astrophysics space mission concepts being studied in preparation for the National Academy of Sciences 2020 Astronomy and Astrophysics Decadal Survey. While LUVOIR is a concept for a general-purpose observatory, it has the key science goal of characterizing a wide range of exoplanets, including those that might be habitable. An additional goal is to enable a broad range of astrophysics, from the reionization epoch, through galaxy formation and evolution, to star and planet formation. Powerful imaging and spectroscopy observations of Solar System bodies would also be possible. LUVOIR would be a Large Strategic Science Mission and will be considered for a development start sometime after 2020. The LUVOIR Study Team has produced designs for two variants of LUVOIR: one with a 15.1 m diameter telescope mirror (LUVOIR-A) and one with an 8 m diameter mirror (LUVOIR-B). LUVOIR can observe ultraviolet, visible, and near-infrared wavelengths of light. The Final Report on the 5-year LUVOIR mission concept study was publicly released on 26 August 2019.

The Habitable Exoplanet Observatory (HabEx) is a space telescope concept that would be optimized to search for and image Earth-size habitable exoplanets in the habitable zones of their stars, where liquid water can exist. HabEx would aim to understand how common terrestrial worlds beyond the Solar System may be and determine the range of their characteristics. It would be an optical, UV and infrared telescope that would also use spectrographs to study planetary atmospheres and eclipse starlight with either an internal coronagraph or an external starshade.

Origins Space Telescope Proposed UV space observatory to characterize exoplanets atmospheres

Origins Space Telescope (Origins) is a concept study for a Far-Infrared Surveyor space telescope mission. A preliminary concept in pre-formulation, it was presented to the United States Decadal Survey in 2019 for a possible selection to NASA's large strategic science missions. Origins would provide an array of new tools for studying star formation and the energetics and physical state of the interstellar medium within the Milky Way using infrared radiation and new spectroscopic capabilities.

Cosmic Vision is the third campaign of space science and space exploration missions in the Science Programme of the European Space Agency (ESA). Formulated in 2005 as Cosmic Vision: Space Science for Europe 2015–2025, the campaign succeeded the Horizon 2000 Plus campaign and envisioned a number of missions in the fields of astronomy and solar system exploration beyond 2015. Ten missions across four funding categories are planned to be launched under Cosmic Vision, with the first being CHEOPS in December 2019. A mission to the Galilean moons (JUICE), the first deep space mission with an opportunistic target, and one of the first gravitational-wave space observatories (LISA), are planned for launch as part of the Cosmic Vision campaign.

References

  1. universe.nasa.gov Archived April 25, 2012, at the Wayback Machine [Retrieved 2011-10-30]
  2. nspires.nasaprs.com Actively Corrected Coronagraph Exoplanet System Studies [Retrieved 2011-10-30]
  3. Yale University & Zooniverse ( homepage) || planethunters.org search for exoplants from data released by the NASA Kepler mission open to public participation Retrieved 2011-12-24]
  4. Cash, Webster oai.dtic.mil Archived 2012-04-18 at the Wayback Machine The New Worlds Observer: The Astrophysics Strategic Mission Concept StudyNAVAL OBSERVATORY WASHINGTON DC AUG 2009DTIC online [Retrieved 2011-12-23] (2011-10-30)
  5. newworlds.colorado.edu CASA at the University of Colorado [Retrieved 2011-12-23]
  6. exep.jpl.nasa.gov [Retrieved 2011-10-30] (2011-12-24)
  7. EPIC [Retrieved 2011-10-30] (2011-12-24)
  8. XPC [Retrieved 2011-10-30] (2011-12-24)
  9. (this link is including ten selected publications by J.Trauger) NASA people + heritage.stsci.edu [Retrieved 2011-12-24]
  10. ACCESS [Retrieved 2011-10-30] (2011-12-24)
  11. jpl.nasa.gov Archived January 4, 2012, at the Wayback Machine [Retrieved 2011-11-24]
  12. PECO [Retrieved 2011-10-30] (2011-12-24)
  13. DAViNCI [Retrieved 2011-10-30] (2011-12-24)
  14. hea-www.harvard.edu Retrieved 2011-10-30
  15. Grindlay, Jonathan; Team, the EXIST (2009). "GRB Probes of the High-z Universe with EXIST". AIP Conference Proceedings. 1133: 18–24. arXiv: 0904.2210 . Bibcode:2009AIPC.1133...18G. doi:10.1063/1.3155875. S2CID   118082356.
  16. Lazio, T. Joseph W.; Burns, J.; Jones, D.; Kasper, J.; Neff, S.; MacDowall, R.; Weiler, K.; DALI/ROLSS Team (2009-01-01). "The Dark Ages Lunar Interferometer (DALI) and the Radio Observatory for Lunar Sortie Science (ROLSS)". American Astronomical Society Meeting Abstracts #213. 213: 451.02. Bibcode:2009AAS...21345102L.