Flight demonstration of a milliarcsecond pointing system for direct exoplanet imaging

J. Astron. Telesc. Instrum. Syst

Chakrabarti

et al. 2015

Self Cite

Abstract. An exoplanet mission based on a high-altitude balloon is a next logical step in humanity's quest to explore Earthlike planets in Earthlike orbits orbiting Sunlike stars. The mission described here is capable of spectrally imaging debris disks and exozodiacal light around a number of stars spanning a range of infrared excesses, stellar types, and ages. The mission is designed to characterize the background near those stars, to study the disks themselves, and to look for planets in those systems. The background light scattered and emitted from the disk is a key uncertainty in the mission design of any exoplanet direct imaging mission, thus, its characterization is critically important for future imaging of exoplanets. © The Authors. Published by SPIE under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. Distribution or reproduction of this work in whole or in part requires full attribution of the original publication, including its DOI.

Section: Mechanical Designmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 95%

Planetary Imaging Concept Testbed Using a Recoverable Experiment–Coronagraph (PICTURE C)

Cook

J. Astron. Telesc. Instrum. Syst

Chakrabarti

et al. 2015

Self Cite

“…The most relevant recent effort was the Boston University PICTURE (Planet Imaging Concept Testbed Using a Rocket Experiment) 38 sounding rocket experiment, which flew with a Boston Micromachines microelectromechanical system (MEMS) DM for high contrast wavefront control in 2007. The rocket attitude control system provided 627 milliarcseconds (mas) root mean square (RMS) body pointing and the fine pointing system successfully stabilized the telescope beam to 5.1 mas RMS using an angle tracker camera and fast steering mirror.…”

Section: Context and Related Effortsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…34,38 While development of application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) drivers is a current focus of several DM manufacturers, 48,49 it is uncertain when ASIC drivers will become generally available and whether they will be appropriate for space applications. For the purpose of this technology demonstration, both the mirror and driver need to fit within the payload constraints as well as leave space for supporting optics and a detector.…”

Section: Mems Deformable Mirrorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Wavefront control in space with MEMS deformable mirrors for exoplanet direct imaging

J. Micro/Nanolith. MEMS MOEMS

Marinan

Novak

et al. 2013

Abstract. To meet the high contrast requirement of 1 × 10 −10 to image an Earth-like planet around a sun-like star, space telescopes equipped with coronagraphs require wavefront control systems. Deformable mirrors (DMs) are a key element of a wavefront control system, as they correct for imperfections, thermal distortions, and diffraction that would otherwise corrupt the wavefront and ruin the contrast. The goal of the CubeSat DM technology demonstration mission is to test the ability of a microelectromechanical system (MEMS) DM to perform wavefront control on-orbit on a nanosatellite platform. We consider two approaches for an MEMS DM technology demonstration payload that will fit within the mass, power, and volume constraints of a CubeSat: (1) a Michelson interferometer and (2) a Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensor. We clarify the constraints on the payload based on the resources required for supporting CubeSat subsystems drawn from subsystems that we have developed for a different CubeSat flight project. We discuss results from payload laboratory prototypes and their utility in defining mission requirements. © The Authors.Published by SPIE under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. Distribution or reproduction of this work in whole or in part requires full attribution of the original publication, including its DOI.

“…While applications such as high contrast imaging with space telescopes 2,3 and space-based free space optical laser communications exist 4,5 , implementation and functional performance assessments of a deformable mirror wavefront control system have not yet been demonstrated in orbit, at least, not on a civilian mission 6,7 . The proposed CubeSat Deformable Mirror Demonstration (DeMi) will take a first step toward incorporation of small, low-power, high actuator count deformable mirror wavefront control systems on spacecraft for use in high-performance space telescope and free space laser communication systems.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

CubeSat deformable mirror demonstration

Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2012: Optical, Infrared, and Millimeter Wave

Marinan

Kerr

et al. 2012

The goal of the CubeSat Deformable Mirror Demonstration (DeMi) is to characterize the performance of a small deformable mirror over a year in low-Earth orbit. Small form factor deformable mirrors are a key technology needed to correct optical system aberrations in high contrast, high dynamic range space telescope applications such as space-based coronagraphic direct imaging of exoplanets. They can also improve distortions and reduce bit error rates for space-based laser communication systems. While follow-on missions can take advantage of this general 3U CubeSat platform to test the on-orbit performance of several different types of deformable mirrors, this first design accommodates a 32-actuator Boston Micromachines MEMS deformable mirror.