Demonstration of Advanced Wavefront Control for Segmented Aperture Telescopes

The exoplanet science objectives outlined in the Astro2020 Decadal Survey call for a high angular-resolution observatory capable of delivering raw coronagraphic contrast on the order of 10-10. Meeting these requirements entails a 6m-class telescope that possesses picometer-level wavefront stability during science operations. Segmented telescopes are the highest-TRL approach for achieving large aperture diameters, however segmented designs are also susceptible to dynamic wavefront error over a wide landscape of spatial and temporal frequencies. The current state-of-the-art wavefront stability in a segmented telescope design is several orders of magnitude larger than what is required to satisfy the Coronagraph Stability ExEP Tier 1 technology gap. Significantly, segment phasing errors can result in mid-spatial frequency aberrations that critically degrade coronagraphic performance, but are also challenging for image-based wavefront sensing methods to measure at high frame rates. Mitigating these disturbances may require an on-board feedback control system that establishes an optimal telescope alignment, and actively maintains that alignment using position metrology to command segment rigid body actuators and instrument deformable mirrors. We propose to use the IRIS testbed, a segmented mirror testbed under development at JPL, to implement an active optics control architecture that uses laser metrology to attenuate observatory disturbances over a broad range of spatial and temporal frequencies. The result of this work will be a set of control algorithms, calibration techniques, and demonstrated performance models that can be applied to a future large-aperture telescope design.

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.

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