The Fizeau Interferometer Testbed (FIT) is a ground-based laboratory experiment at Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) designed to develop and test technologies that will be needed for future interferometric spacecraft missions. Specifically, the research from this experiment is a proof-of-concept for optical accuracy and stability, closed-loop control algorithms, optimal sampling methodology of the Fourier UV-plane, computational models for system performance, and image synthesis techniques for a sparse array of 7 to 30 mirrors. It will assess and refine the technical requirements on hardware, control, and imaging algorithms for the Stellar Imager (SI), its pathfinder mission, and other sparse aperture and interferometric imaging mission concepts. This ground-based optical system is a collaborative effort between NASA's GSFC, Sigma Space Corporation, the Naval Research Laboratory, and the University of Maryland. We present an overview of the FIT design goals and explain their associated validation methods. We further document the design requirements and provide a status on their completion. Next, we show the overall FIT design, including the optics and data acquisition process. We discuss the technologies needed to insure success of the testbed as well as for an entire class of future mission concepts. Finally, we compare the expected performance to the actual performance of the testbed using the initial array of seven spherical mirrors. Currently, we have aligned and phased all seven mirrors, demonstrated excellent system stability for extended periods of time, and begun open-loop operations using "pinhole" light sources. Extended scenes and calibration masks are being fabricated and will shortly be installed in the source module. Installation of all the different phase retrieval/diversity algorithms and control software is well on the way to completion, in preparation for future tests of closed-loop operations.
The Fizeau Interferometer Testbed (FIT) is a ground-based system that will be used for the development and testing of technologies relevant to Stellar Imager (SI) and other sparse aperture/Fizeau imaging interferometer mission concepts. The testbed will utilize image-based wavefront sensing and control to co-phase and maintain closed-loop control over a Sparse Aperture Array (SAA) consisting of spherical mirror elements. The SAA is a re-configurable assembly baselined to incorporate between seven (initially) and thirty 12.5mm diameter (R = 4000mm) mirror elements. In this paper we describe the fabrication, alignment, and initial calibration of the phase I (7 primary elements) FIT hardware and discuss various factors impacting the performance and stability of the testbed.
The Stellar Imager (SI) is a far-horizon or "Vision" mission in the NASA Sun-Earth Connection (SEC) Roadmap, conceived for the purpose of understanding the effects of stellar magnetic fields, the dynamos that generate them, and the internal structure and dynamics of the stars in which they exist. The ultimate goal is to achieve the best possible forecasting of solar/stellar activity and its impact on life in the Universe. The science goals of SI require an ultra-high angular resolution, at ultraviolet wavelengths, on the order of 0.1 milliarcsec and thus baselines on the order of 500 meters. These requirements call for a large, multi-spacecraft (>20) imaging interferometer, utilizing precision formation flying in a stable environment, such as in a Lissajous orbit around the Sun-Earth L2 point. SI's resolution (several 100 times that of HST) will make it an invaluable resource for many other areas of astrophysics, including studies of AGN's, supernovae, cataclysmic variables, young stellar objects, QSO's, and stellar black holes. In this paper, we present an update on the ongoing mission concept and technology development studies for SI. These studies are designed to refine the mission requirements for the science goals, define a Design Reference Mission, perform trade studies of selected major technical and architectural issues, improve the existing technology roadmap, and explore the details of deployment and operations, as well as the possible roles of astronauts and/or robots in construction and servicing of the facility.
Stellar Imager (SI) is a potential NASA space-based UV imaging interferometer to resolve the stellar disks of nearby stars. SI would consist of 20 - 30 separate spacecraft flying in formation at the Earth-Sun L2 libration point. Onboard wavefront control would be required to initially align the formation and maintain alignment during science observations and after array reconfiguration. The Fizeau Interferometry Testbed (FIT) is a testbed currently under development at the NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center to develop and study the wavefront control methodologies for Stellar Imager and other large, sparse aperture telescope systems. FIT consists of 7 articulated spherical mirrors in a Golay pattern, expandable up to 30 elements, and reconfigurable into multiple array patterns. FIT’s purpose is to demonstrate image quality versus array configuration and to develop and advance the wavefront control for SI. FIT uses extended scene wavelength, focus and field diversity to estimate the wavefront across the set of apertures. The recovered wavefront is decomposed into the eigenmodes of the control matrix and actuators are moved to minimize the wavefront piston, tip and tilt. Each mirror’s actuators are 3 degrees of freedom, however, they do not move each of the mirrors about a point on each mirrors surface, thus the mapping from wavefront piston, tip/tilt to mirror piston, tip/tilt is not diagonal. We initially estimate this mapping but update it as part of wavefront sensing and control process using system identification techniques. We discuss the FIT testbed, wavefront control methodology, and show initial results from FIT.
We summarize the current detector performance of the NearInfrared and MultiObject Spectrometer (NICMOS) on board the Hubble Space Telescope. After a three-year hiatus following the exhaustion of its solid nitrogen coolant, NICMOS was revived with the installation of the NICMOS Cooling System during the HST Servicing Mission 3B in March 2002. In this paper, we briefly describe the timeline of the NICMOS cooldown, present the results from the cooldown monitoring program to characterize the NICMOS detectors at their current operating temperature, and summarize the scientific performance of the "new" NICMOS.
We describe the on-orbit performance of the Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer (NICMOS) aboard the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) following the installation of the NICMOS Cooling System (NCS). NICMOS is operated at a higher temperature (~77 K) than in the previous observing 1997-1998 period (~62 K). Due to the higher operating temperature, the detector QE is higher, while the well depth is less. The spatial structure of the flat field response remained essentially unchanged. We will show the effects of operating at the higher temperature and present current NICMOS calibration images. In addition, we present an overview of on-orbit testing and report on the re-enabling of NICMOS.
The Stellar Imager (SI) is envisioned as a space-based, UV-optical interferometer composed of 10 or more one-meter class
elements distributed with a maximum baseline of 0.5 km. It is designed to image stars and binaries with sufficient resolution to enable long-term studies of stellar magnetic activity patterns,
for comparison with those on the sun. It will also support asteroseismology (acoustic imaging) to probe stellar internal structure, differential rotation, and large-scale circulations.
SI will enable us to understand the various effects of the magnetic fields of stars, the dynamos that generate these fields, and the internal structure and dynamics of the stars. The ultimate goal of the mission is to achieve the best-possible forecasting of solar activity as a driver of climate and space weather on time scales ranging from months up to decades, and an understanding of the impact of stellar magnetic activity on life in the Universe. In this paper we describe the scientific goals of the mission, the performance requirements needed to address these goals, the "enabling technology" development efforts being pursued, and the design concepts now under study for the full mission and a possible pathfinder mission.
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