The DEUCE and INFUSE Sounding Rocket Payloads: EUV and Integral Field Spectrographs for Next-generation Space-flight Hardware Development

We propose a four-year suborbital sounding rocket research program to expand the development of next-generation UV instrumentation at the University of Colorado (CU). The aim of this program will be to: 1) complete the ionizing radiation (Extreme-UV (EUV): 650 - 900 angstrom) measurements of nearby B-stars begun as part of our predecessor award to constrain the contribution of hot stars to reionization in the high-z universe, 2) take advantage of the unique southern launch opportunity in 2020 to make the first-ever flux calibrated measurements of low-mass stars in the 500 - 900 angstrom bandpass, 3) develop the first Far-UV (FUV: 1000 - 1600 angstrom) integral field spectrograph (IFS) as a pathfinder for a next-generation NASA mission instrument, 4) fly the IFS to study the impact of massive stars on their galactic environments by quantifying the shock-velocity distribution in a nearby supernova remnant, and 5) provide training for graduate and undergraduate students, and mentorship for NASA's future space mission PIs. We will carry out these aims with two additional launches of the payload developed under the predecessor award, and the development and flight testing of the new IFS instrument. All work will be performed in a university environment with a long history of postdoctoral and student training in UV astrophysics, heliophysics, and planetary science. In the first two years of the proposed work, we will fly the Dual-channel Extreme Ultraviolet Continuum Experiment (DEUCE) payload twice: first to complete the ionizing radiation census of local B stars, and then to obtain the first EUV spectra of the nearest main-sequence stars. Our group recently completed the first flight of DEUCE to observe the ionizing spectrum of one of the only two B-stars with sufficiently low intervening neutral hydrogen column: beta Canis Majoris. A NASA vehicle subsystem failure prevented successful target acquisition on this flight, so in Year 1 of the proposed work we will launch DEUCE to recover the original science mission. In Year 2, we will fly DEUCE from Australia to obtain the first 500 - 900 angstrom spectrum of the potential exoplanet host stars alpha Centauri A and B. The long-term stability of rocky planet atmospheres is driven by EUV radiation from their parent stars, although this quantity is almost completely unconstrained by direct observation. DEUCE will constrain the exoplanet climate models used to interpret the first atmospheric spectra of Earth-like planets that will be obtained in the coming decades with JWST, LUVOIR/HabEx, and other forthcoming NASA missions. In parallel with the DEUCE flight schedule, we will leverage recent advances in technology to demonstrate the first FUV IFS: the Integral Field Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Experiment (INFUSE). INFUSE is a 0.5 meter aperture IFS that utilizes an image slicer at the focal plane to spectrally map a 5 x 4.3 arcminute region with ~ 2 arcsecond angular resolution and moderate resolving power (R ~ 6000) in a single pointing. The INFUSE concept is enabled by the recent development of enhanced reflectivity lithium fluoride (eLiF) mirror coatings and large format, high global count-rate cross-strip anode (XS) boro-silicate glass microchannel plate (MCP) detectors - both technologies identified for maturation and flight-testing by the LUVOIR Science and Technology Definition Team (STDT). In Year 4, we will launch INFUSE to provide the first wide-field spectral maps of the shock velocity structure in a region of the Cygnus Loop supernova remnant.

The Astrophysics Research and Analysis program (APRA) supports suborbital and suborbital-class investigations, development of detectors and supporting technology, laboratory astrophysics, and limited ground based observing. Basic research proposals in these areas are solicited for investigations that are relevant to NASA's programs in astronomy and astrophysics, including the entire range of photons, gravitational waves, and particle astrophysics. The emphasis of this solicitation is on technologies and investigations that advance NASA astrophysics missions and goals.

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