Bernard D. Seery

Next Generation Space Telescope

We present the preliminary results of a feasibility study performed by a team of scientists and engineers from NASA, academia and industrial concerns. The candidate concept is a deployable 8 meter diameter telescope optimized for the near infrared region (1 - 5 microns), but with instruments capable of observing from the visible all the way to 30 microns. The observatory is radiatively cooled to about 30 K and would be launched on an Atlas II-AS to the Lagrange Point L2.

NASA'S NEXT GENERATION SPACE TELESCOPE: VISITING A TIME WHEN GALAXIES WERE YOUNG

NASAs next great endeavor, a space telescope to study the origin of galaxies, is in its formulative phase. Seery and Smith update readers on the paradigms, processes, and optical parameters of this project.

Heterodyning scheme employing quantum interference

We propose a fundamentally new method of heterodyne detection of FIR signals using quantum interference between one- and two-photon absorption. We suggest different implementations of the scheme using multiple QW detectors and evaluate its sensitivity.

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST): Hubble's scientific and technological successor

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) - the 21st century follow-on to NASAs highly successful Hubble Space Telescope - has moved one step closer to becoming a reality. In addition to selecting the instrument and science teams, NASA announced on September 10, 2002 that TRW Space and Electronics and its partners - Ball Aerospace and Eastman Kodak - had won the prime contract to build the high-profile observatory, formerly known as the Next Generation Space Telescope. It will be up to the contractor team and NASA to finalize designs and being laying the groundwork for assemblying one of the largest single-aperture telescopes ever flown. This article provides a general overview of the JWST mission - a centerpiece of NASAs Origins Program - and describes some of the technological challenges that NASA and TRW face.

Acquisition and tracking performance measurements for a high speed area array detector system

A proof-of-concept (POC) demonstration system has been developed which demonstrates acquisition, tracking and point-ahead angle sensing for a space optical communications terminal utilizing a single high speed area array detector. The detector is the 128 x 128 pixel Kodak HS-40 photodiode array. It has 64 parallel readout channels and can operate at frames rates up to 40,000 frames/sec with rms readout noise of 20 photoelectrons. A windowing scheme and special purpose digital signal processing electronics are employed to implement acquisition and tracking algorithms. The system operates at greater than 1 kHz sample (frame) rates. Acquisition can be performed in as little as 30 milliseconds with less than 1 picowatt of 0.85 micron beacon power on the detector. At the same power level, the rms tracking accuracy is approximately 1/16 pixel. Results of system analysis and measurements using the POC system are presented.

Geodynamic Laser Ranging System Laser Transmitter

A description is given of the requirements and design options in the development of a spaceborne laser transmitter for NASAs Geodynamic Laser Ranging System. Three different oscillators are considered. The first is an injection-seeded ring oscillator yielding 1 mJ of energy within a 120-ps pulse. The second is a frequency-modulated mode-locked oscillator emitting 0.30 nJ in a 20-ps pulse. The third is a self-starting, additive pulse mode-locked laser. Detailed design considerations and preliminary results of these lasers are reported as well as the design of a unique multipass amplifier.

Multi-organization — Multi-discipline effort developing a mitigation concept for planetary defense

There have been significant recent efforts in addressing mitigation approaches to neutralize Potentially Hazardous Asteroids (PHA). One such research effort was performed in 2015 by an integrated, inter-disciplinary team of asteroid scientists, energy deposition modeling scientists, payload engineers, orbital dynamicist engineers, spacecraft discipline engineers, and systems / architecture engineers from NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) and the Department of Energy (DoE) / National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) laboratories (Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories (LLNL) and Sandia National Laboratories). The study team collaborated with GSFCs Integrated Design Centers Mission Design Lab (MDL) which engaged a team of GSFC flight hardware discipline engineers to work with GSFC, LANL, and LLNL Near-Earth Asteroid (NEA)-related subject matter experts during a one-week intensive concept formulation study in an integrated concurrent engineering environment. This team has analyzed the first of several distinct study cases for a multi-year NASA research grant. This Case 1 study references the NEA named Bennu as the notional target due to the availability of a very detailed Design Reference Asteroid (DRA) model for its orbit and physical characteristics (courtesy of the Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer [OSIRIS-REx] mission team). The research involved the formulation and optimization of spacecraft trajectories to intercept Bennu, overall mission and architecture concepts, and high-fidelity modeling of both kinetic impact (spacecraft collision to change a NEAs momentum and orbit) and nuclear detonation effects on Bennu, for purposes of deflecting Bennu.

The use of remote sensing data for advancing America'S Energy Policy

After briefly reviewing Americas Energy Policy laid out by the Obama Administration, we outline how a Global Carbon Observing System designed to monitor Carbon from space can provide the necessary data and tools to equip decision makers with the knowledge necessary to formulate effective energy use and practices policy. To stabilize greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere in a manner that it does not interfere with the Earths climate system (which is one of the goals of United Nations Framework for Convention on Climate Change) requires vastly improved prediction of the atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations. This in turn requires a robust understanding of the carbon exchange mechanisms between atmosphere, land, and oceans and a clear understanding of the sources and sinks (i.e. uptake and storage) of CO2. We discuss how the Carbon Observing System from space aids in better understanding of the connection between the carbon cycle and climate change and provides more accurate predictions of atmospheric CO2 concentration. It also enables implementation of greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation policies such as cap and trade programs, international climate treaties, as well as formulation of effective energy use policies.

NASA'a Next-Generation Space Telescope visiting a time when galaxies were young

With the discovery of galaxies that existed when the universe was very young, of planets not in our own solar system, and with the tantalizing evidence that he conditions for life may have existed within our solar system on planets or moons outside of the earth system, the pat year has seen an explosion of interest in astronomy. In particular, a new era of exploration and understanding seems imminent, where the connection between the existence for the conditions of life will be connected to the origin of galaxies, stars and planets within the Universe. Who knows where this quest for knowledge will take us.

EO-1: NASA's first new millennium earth orbiting mission

One of the key charges to NASAs Mission to Planet Earth (MTPE) is to ensure the continuity of future Landsat data. The New Millennium Programs (NMP) first Earth orbiting flight will validate technologies contributing to the reduction in cost of Landsat follow-on missions. The centerpiece is an advanced land imager (ALI) instrument. The EO-1 imaging system will also incorporate alternative and innovative approaches to future land imaging, including two different hyperspectral imaging techniques. One of these is a hyperspectral wedge spectrometer and the other is a miniature hyperspectral grating spectrometer.