New Worlds Observer Precursor Mission

Details New Worlds Observer Precursor Mission New Worlds Observer Precursor Mission

Jun 2007

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2007lyot.confe..49l&link_type=abstract

Proceedings of the conference In the Spirit of Bernard Lyot: The Direct Detection of Planets and Circumstellar Disks in the 21s

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astrophysics

Scientific paper

The New Worlds Observer architecture uses an external occulter to extinguish the on-axis light from a star and a separate telescope to collect the light from objects around that star, such as planets and debris disks. The separation of the starlight suppression capability from the photon collection capability makes the New Worlds Observer architecture very flexible. This paper describes NWO concepts ranging from low-cost precursor missions to Terrestrial Planet Finding (TPF) missions, and provides a path that extends beyond TPF to Planet-Imager and LifeFinder. Low cost precursor missions could be launched on a Minotaur using a small(~10 meter) occulter to work with a small(~0.5 m), telescope. Intermediate precursor missions could be accomplished by launching a larger occulter as a secondary payload to work with existing telescopes such as SOFIA or JWST. The former may allow direct detection of known giant planets, while the latter has the potential to discover Exo-Earths. A full TPF mission would consists of a large occulter working with a dedicated telescope; this can potentially find many terrestrial planets, as well as perform a host of ancillary astronomy investigations such as imaging debris disks and characterizing atmospheres of Jovian planets, as well as making general astrophysics observations. By utilizing the in space servicing capabilities that may be developed for the Exploration program, the lifetime of these occulters may be greatly extended by refueling and repair. In the future, larger occulters (>100 m) could be assembled on orbit. Thus, when coupled with a large telescope, the NWO architecture provides a path towards Lifefinder. NWO is a flexible architecture that allows scalability on all levels to suit the budget available for Exo-Planet Missions.

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