Goddard Miniature Coronagraph

Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) interact with the ambient solar wind and other CMEs through a variety of physical processes that alter the CMEs, change their geo-effectiveness and profoundly change the conditions of the entire heliosphere. Basic properties of CMEs, such as apparent location, width and speed, are derived by measuring and tracking CME structure. Interactions with the ambient corona and solar wind compress and deform CMEs, providing clues on conditions in the ambient medium and on the possibility of shock formation. White light coronal observations are used to derive most of the basic properties of CMEs. They provide the ability to track their propagation and evolution and play a crucial role in forecasting CME geo-effectiveness. Observations from multiple lines-of-sight away from the Earth-Sun line reduce the ambiguities inherent in observing an optically thin medium. STEREO observations, combined with data from the SOHO LASCO coronagraphs and forecasting models, provide better determinations of CME parameters and significantly improved forecasts of CME arrival times. Multi-point observations of CMEs and heliospheric structures would be possible using low-cost Smallsat platforms launched into various orbits off the Earth-Sun line and out of the ecliptic plane. For this ITD study, we will fully design and test a low Size, Weight, and Power (SWAP), miniature solar coronagraph, thus extremely cost/resource effective. The bright CME fronts means that significantly smaller coronagraphs can be designed and built, as is currently being done on the NRL Compact Coronagraph (CCOR) series. Utilizing the extendable boom external occulter designs coupled with focal plane masks previously funded (and implemented on BITSE/CODEX) as a starting point for a full miniature coronagraph design, this design will be ≤1/2 the mass and launch volume of CCOR. While boom-deployed magnetometers have been successfully used on CubeSats and smallsat, the boom position and stability requirements for a coronagraph occulter are more severe and have not yet been tested. We will test the performance of a prototype coronagraph with a boom-deployed external occulter system. The occulter system consists of a threaded cone designed to block the bright solar disk, minimize diffraction, and optimize vignetting. It must be deployed to the correct position to meet optical requirements. The system will be tested in the National Center for Atmospheric Research Vacuum Tunnel Facility (NVTF) to validate pointing, stability and stray light requirements. The NVTF is a unique facility that has been used to test the performance of a number of successful space-based coronagraphs (Skylab, Solar Maximum Mission, Spartan, STEREO COR-1). The NVTF is ideally suited for conducting these tests. The proposed work will characterize the performance of a boom-deployed occulter prototype coronagraph. This ITD is an ideal opportunity to optimize performance and greatly enhance the probability of success on a future SWAP constrained coronagraph mission. The end result will be a full instrument design ready to be proposed and flown.

Support NASA's Heliophysics strategic science objectives to understand the Sun and its interactions with Earth and the solar system, including space weather. This will be achieved by developing/demonstrating instrumentation technology necessary to address the following science goals: Explore the physical processes in the space environment from the Sun to the Earth and throughout the solar system; Advance our understanding of the connections that link the Sun, the Earth, planetary space environments, and the outer reaches of our solar system; Develop the knowledge and capability to detect and predict extreme conditions in space to protect life and society and to safeguard human and robotic explorers beyond Earth.

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