Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland 20771
ENGINEERING COLLOQUIUM
Monday, September 28, 2009 / 3:30 PM, Building 3 Auditorium
Ken Carpenter
"Viewing the Universe in High Definition: The Stellar Imager (SI) Vision Mission"
ABSTRACT -- The Stellar Imager (SI) is a space-based, UV/Optical Interferometer (UVOI) designed to enable 0.1 milli-arcsecond (mas) spectral imaging of stellar surfaces and of the Universe in general. It will also probe via asteroseismology flows and structures in stellar interiors. SI's science focuses on the role of magnetism in the Universe and will revolutionize our understanding of the formation of planetary systems, of the habitability and climatology of distant planets, and of many magneto-hydrodynamically controlled processes in the Universe. SI is an implementation of the UVOI in the 2006 Astrophysics Strategic Plan and a "Landmark/Discovery Mission" in the 2005 Heliophysics Roadmap. It is a NASA Vision Mission ("NASA Space Science Vision Missions" (2008), ed. M. Allen) and has also been recommended for further study in the 2008 NRC report on missions potentially enabled/enhanced by an Ares V launch, although the baseline mission design can be launched using the existing Delta IV Heavy vehicle. We present here the science goals of the SI Mission, a mission architecture that could meet those goals, and the technology development needed to enable this mission. The key technology needs include: 1) precision formation flying of many spacecraft, 2) precision metrology over km-scales, 3) closed-loop control of many-element, sparse optical arrays, 4) staged-control systems with very high dynamic ranges (nm to km-scale).
SPEAKER -- Dr. Kenneth Carpenter is currently the Hubble Space Telescope Operations Project Scientist. He also leads the Stellar Imager Vision Mission concept development and is PI of the Fizeau Interferometer Testbed (FIT, a ground-based laboratory testbed to develop and test algorithms for closed-loop control of actuated multi-element sparse aperture systems. His scientific interests include studies of the chromospheres, transition regions, winds and circumstellar shells of cool stars, as well as the calculation of model atmospheres and synthetic spectra and investigations of line fluorescence processes. His hardware interests include development and operations of UV spectroscopic instruments and large baseline space interferometers. He is currently a member of the Exoplanets and Stellar Astrophysics Laboratory at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.