AugmentingATLAST

SustainingGoddardLeadershipontheRoadtothe2020DecadalSurvey

March2015

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Thewilltowinmeansnothingwithoutthewilltoprepare!

Hubble

Spitzer

Kepler

JWST

TESS

AFTA

New Worlds Telescope

Ground-based Observatories

2001DecadalSurvey

2010DecadalSurvey

NASA’sExoplanet &AstrophysicsFacilities

Adapted from invited Goddard Symposium talk by J. Grunsfeld (Mar 11, 2015)

• FY2015isa“watershedyear,”withmajoropportunitiesforATLASTanditscompetitors

• Theprioritysciencegoalsand10m-classreferencedesignisverywell-regarded

– AURA’sBeyondJWST reporthasrecommendedthatamissionnearlyidenticaltoATLASTfollowWFIRST/AFTA

– Ourteamhasbeenapproachedbycandidateinternationalandindustrypartners

• PrioritychallengeforanATLASTwinisperceivedtechnologyreadinessbyearly2020s

– TheExoplanet ProgramOfficeispreparedtoaugmentrelevanttechfundinginFY16andSMDastrophysicsisputtinginan“overguide”augmentationtoFY17

– WeareseekinganFY15fundingaugmentationtoacceleratetechnologydevelopmentintwo(ofthree)keyareas

• Assessmentanddesignworkofstarlightsuppression(partiallymatchedbyJPL)

• Advanceddesignofopticalwavefront sensingandcontrol3

LedbyGSFCandincludingJPL,STScI,andMSFC,ouroverarchinggoalistowintheAstrophysicsNRC2020DecadalSurvey

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Our technology must be ready and our design sufficiently detailed.We must be seen more often, be better prepared, and in more

places than our competitors.We must be prepared to meet with candidate industrial and

international partners.GSFC’s priorities, as well as our partners, must be unambiguous.Our visualizations must impress and our media presence widely

accessed (via STScI).Are we preparing to face the NRC?

Facing the 2020 NRC Decadal Survey Committee

In 2010: twenty-three professionals from twenty institutions supported by 120 colleagues in ten panels

• ATLAST’sscientific“killerapp”isthedetectionofbiosignatures inthespectraofexoplanets aroundstarsinthesolarneighborhood:Arewealone?

– Thisrequiresmajorprogressintwokeytechnologies:starlightsuppressionandoverallsystemsstability

• Starlightsuppression:MatchedbyJPLfunding,wearerequesting$200KinCY15tojointlysupport[four]coronagraphteamstoassessfeasibilityoftheirdesignstosuppressstarlightinalarge-aperturesegmentedobservatory

– ResultswillbesubmittedtoStuartShaklan (JPL)forapples-to-applescomparison

– Wearerequesting$100K inCY15tofundJPLassessmentofstarshadeoptionforstarlightsuppression

• Systemsstability:ATLASTrequiresmechanicalandthermalstabilitybeyondthatwhichhaseverbeenachieved,requiringexplorationviasophisticatedintegratedmodeling

– AsthesmallnumberofGSFCintegratedmodelersarefullyoccupied,wearerequesting$75KforCarlBlaurock (NightSkySystems,Inc.),oneoftheworldexperts,toexpandhisworkonthisactivity.

• AlthoughourJPL,STScI,andMSFCpartnersinATLASThavebeenexcellent,itisessentialthatGSFCmaintainleadershipbybeingthe“face”ofthemissiontotheprofessionalcommunities.

– WerequestcontinuedseniorCentersupportforprofessionalengagementandoutreach 5

AugmentedFundingtoAccelerateGSFC-ledATLASTTechnologyReadinessandMitigateRisk