Exo-C: a probe-scale space observatory for direct imaging and spectroscopy of extrasolar planetary systems
Name
96050T.pdf
Size
809.23 KB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
6d129f9ec0fe720e2dbe75ac8ad87624
Author(s)
Stapelfeldt, Karl R.
Dekens, Frank G.
Brenner, Michael P.
Warfield, Keith R.
Belikov, Ruslan
Brugarolas, Paul B.
Bryden, Geoffrey
Chakrabarti, Supriya
Dubovitsky, Serge
Effinger, Robert T.
Date Issued
August 2015
Journal
Proceedings Volume 9605, Techniques and Instrumentation for Detection of Exoplanets VII
Publisher
SPIE
Citation
Stapelfeldt, Karl R., et al. "Exo-C: A Probe-Scale Space Observatory for Direct Imaging and Spectroscopy of Extrasolar Planetary Systems." Proceedings Volume 9605, Techniques and Instrumentation for Detection of Exoplanets VII, 9-13 August, 2015, San Diego, California, edited by Stuart Shaklan, 2015, p. 96050T. © 2015 SPIE.
Version
Final published version
Abstract
"Exo-C" is NASAs first community study of a modest aperture space telescope mission that is optimized for high contrast observations of exoplanetary systems. The mission will be capable of taking optical spectra of nearby exoplanets in reflected light, discovering previously undetected planets, and imaging structure in a large sample of circumstellar disks. It will obtain unique science results on planets down to super-Earth sizes and serve as a technology pathfinder toward an eventual flagship-class mission to find and characterize habitable Earth-like exoplanets. We present the mission/payload design and highlight steps to reduce mission cost/risk relative to previous mission concepts. Key elements are an unobscured telescope aperture, an internal coronagraph with deformable mirrors for precise wavefront control, and an orbit and observatory design chosen for high thermal stability. Exo-C has a similar telescope aperture, orbit, lifetime, and spacecraft bus requirements to the highly successful Kepler mission (which is our cost reference). Much of the needed technology development is being pursued under the WFIRST coronagraph study and would support a mission start in 2017, should NASA decide to proceed. This paper summarizes the study final report completed in March 2015.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Terms of Use
Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use.
Persistent DSpace Link
DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2191720
