Starshade Petal Fabrication and Accuracy Demonstration at Full-Scale for the IR/O/UV Great Observatory

The proposed effort will design, mature, and experimentally verify the accuracy of manufacturing methods for a starshade petal, at full-scale relative to starshade sizes needed for the 6 m-class IR/O/UV (infrared, optical, ultraviolet) Great Observatory recommended by the 2020 Decadal Survey of Astronomy and Astrophysics (Astro2020). External occulters or starshades, paired with future space telescopes, are a leading mechanism for starlight suppression and exo-Earth detection and characterization. Starshade designs with high technological maturity consist of a circular inner disk surrounded by a number of petals. A preliminary starshade concept for the IR/O/UV Great Observatory is 56 m in total diameter with a 24 m-diameter disk and 24 16-long petals. Previous efforts (Kasdin et al., TDEM report, 2012) have demonstrated the accurate fabrication of a 6 m-long starshade petal. Constructing a 16 m-long petal presents new challenges in scaling up existing designs. The proposed effort will address this gap through innovations in assembly and metrology approaches. This demonstration is important because manufactured petal shape accuracy is both the single largest contributor to instrument contrast and the contributor considered most sensitive to the increasing size. The proposed effort will develop novel assembly methods and demonstrate accurate fabrication of a full-scale petal for the IR/O/UV Great Observatory. We will leverage existing petal fabrication metrology approaches (Arya et al., JATIS 7:2 021202, 2021) to manufacture sub-pieces called “modules”, and introduce new methods to accurately assemble these modules into a single stiff petal structure. Recent efforts have demonstrated that petals 4 m long and 1.5 m wide can be measured using a non-contact MicroVu metrology machine (Arya et al., JATIS 7:2 021202, 2021); we will use this proven metrology approach to construct petal modules. For the second step of module assembly, we will leverage long-range laser tracking metrology that is highly accurate over large distances. The petal prototype will include all relevant components and features needed for structural stiffness and stability. The structural materials will be flight-relevant carbon-fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) and engineering adhesives. The petal will include precision-etched metallic foils to define the optical shape. Prior to fabrication of the full-scale petal, the proposed effort will conduct systems-level architectural studies to understand the performance trades related to the number of petals, the petal to disk length ratio, tip and gap width, and other key factors. Various structural designs will be considered and will be numerically modeled using finite element models and statistical models to predict the optical performance of as-manufactured petals. This will lead to the development of an error budget for the petal manufacturing process. These early studies and analyses will be crucial for maturing the petal design at these length scales and the design of the petal assembly process. Using the measured data from the prototype petal fabrication, we will model and estimate the performance of an entire flight starshade. Using this data, we will also conduct analyses to advance the manufacturing and metrology maturity for future flight starshades.

The Strategic Astrophysics Technology program (SAT) supports focused development efforts for key technologies to the point at which they are ready to feed into major missions in the three science themes of the Astrophysics Division: Exoplanet Exploration, Cosmic Origins, and the Physics of the Cosmos. This program is specifically designed to address middle technology readiness level (TRL) "gaps" between levels 3 and 6: the maturation of technologies that have been established as feasible, but which are not yet sufficiently mature to incorporate into flight missions without introducing an unacceptable level of risk.

This is a mature technology (TRL 7+) — the realistic path in is usually NASA's Technology Transfer Program: licensing an existing NASA patent, or a Space Act Agreement to use NASA facilities/expertise directly. NASA also runs a startup licensing program with no upfront fee for companies formed to commercialize a specific NASA technology.

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