A low-order hardware implementation for sensing and control in exoplanet imaging

The Astro2020 decadal report calls for the maturation of enabling technologies for the next flagship-class space observatory, now envisioned as the IR/O/UV space telescope. A central objective of this mission is the direct imaging and spectroscopy of exoplanet systems in reflected starlight. Concepts for a coronagraph instrument for extreme high contrast imaging have been extensively explored and tested in laboratory investigations over the past decade. Nevertheless, currently-demonstrated technologies fall short of the sensitivities needed to detect earth-sized exoplanets orbiting at earth-like distances from the star in reflected starlight, as articulated in the NASA Exoplanet Exploration Program’s (ExEP) list of Coronagraph/Telescope Technology Gaps for direct imaging at exoplanet/star raw contrast ratios of 10^-10 or better in visible wavelengths, with 10% throughput or better, and for exoplanet-star separations of 3 λ/D or smaller in a dynamic space-simulating environments. We propose the implementation and closed-loop demonstration of a new low-order wavefront control (LOWFC) element, a hardware component for the active correction of wavefront errors associated with telescope line-of-sight jitter, thermal gradients, and alignment drift. We will explore, through modeling and experiment, the effectiveness of separating wavefront control functions into an (a) active closed-loop control of low spatial frequencies followed by the (b) extremely stable open-loop control of the high spatial frequencies. It is essential that the low order wavefront is actively maintained without the addition of high order residual errors, else the effectiveness of high order control will be compromised. This hardware, incorporated into a laboratory coronagraph and used in concert with a next-generation Hybrid Lyot Coronagraph (HLC) focal plane mask and Zernike wavefront sensor (ZWFS), will test the concept at high levels of contrast in a dynamic testbed environment, thereby providing confidence that significant sources of error have been unambiguously identified and effectively controlled or mitigated. The proposed investigation fills a gap among the technologies required for exoplanet imaging as defined by the Astro2020 report.

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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