Ron Shiri

Phase Retrieval Algorithm for JWST Flight and Testbed Telescope

An image-based wavefront sensing and control algorithm for the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is presented. The algorithm heritage is discussed in addition to implications for algorithm performance dictated by NASAs Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 6. The algorithm uses feedback through an adaptive diversity function to avoid the need for phase-unwrapping post-processing steps. Algorithm results are demonstrated using JWST Testbed Telescope (TBT) commissioning data and the accuracy is assessed by comparison with interferometer results on a multi-wave phase aberration. Strategies for minimizing aliasing artifacts in the recovered phase are presented and orthogonal basis functions are implemented for representing wavefronts in irregular hexagonal apertures. Algorithm implementation on a parallel cluster of high-speed digital signal processors (DSPs) is also discussed.

TRL-6 for JWST wavefront sensing and control

NASAs Technology Readiness Level (TRL)-6 is documented for the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) Wavefront Sensing and Control (WFSC) subsystem. The WFSC subsystem is needed to align the Optical Telescope Element (OTE) after all deployments have occurred, and achieves that requirement through a robust commissioning sequence consisting of unique commissioning algorithms, all of which are part of the WFSC algorithm suite. This paper identifies the technology need, algorithm heritage, describes the finished TRL-6 design platform, and summarizes the TRL-6 test results and compliance. Additionally, the performance requirements needed to satisfy JWST science goals as well as the criterion that relate to the TRL-6 Testbed Telescope (TBT) performance requirements are discussed.

Multiwalled carbon nanotubes for stray light suppression in space flight instruments

Observations of the Earth are extremely challenging; its large angular extent floods scientific instruments with high flux within and adjacent to the desired field of view. This bright light diffracts from instrument structures, rattles around and invariably contaminates measurements. Astrophysical observations also are impacted by stray light that obscures very dim objects and degrades signal to noise in spectroscopic measurements. Stray light is controlled by utilizing low reflectance structural surface treatments and by using baffles and stops to limit this background noise. In 2007 GSFC researchers discovered that Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes (MWCNTs) are exceptionally good absorbers, with potential to provide order-of-magnitude improvement over current surface treatments and a resulting factor of 10,000 reduction in stray light when applied to an entire optical train. Development of this technology will provide numerous benefits including: a.) simplification of instrument stray light controls to achieve equivalent performance, b.) increasing observational efficiencies by recovering currently unusable scenes in high contrast regions, and c.) enabling low-noise observations that are beyond current capabilities. Our objective was to develop and apply MWCNTs to instrument components to realize these benefits. We have addressed the technical challenges to advance the technology by tuning the MWCNT geometry using a variety of methods to provide a factor of 10 improvement over current surface treatments used in space flight hardware. Techniques are being developed to apply the optimized geometry to typical instrument components such as spiders, baffles and tubes. Application of the nanostructures to alternate materials (or by contact transfer) is also being investigated. In addition, candidate geometries have been tested and optimized for robustness to survive integration, testing, launch and operations associated with space flight hardware. The benefits of this technology extend to space science where observations of extremely dim objects require suppression of stray light.

The GLOBE Visualization Project: Using WWW in the Classroom.

Though commercial interest in the World Wide Web is growing, the potential uses of the medium as a learning tool are numerous. The GLOBE Visualization Project is one such educational application. We have designed and implemented a WWW-based, user-friendly, language-independent, graphical user interface providing access to visualizations created for GLOBE, a multinational program of education and science. The target users of the system are K–12 students and their teachers from over 1100 schools in 39 countries; other clients include the GLOBE scientific investigators and members of the public internationally. Navigation is intuitive, and employs the metaphors of a “Control Panel” which changes the image appearing in a “Viewscreen.” The interface can be learned empirically by persons of all ages regardless of technical expertise or native language; context-sensitive help is provided for users who prefer documentation. The GLOBE Visualization server is on the World Wide Web at URL http://globe.gsfc.nasa.gov/globe/.

The Segmented Aperture Interferometric Nulling Testbed (SAINT) I: overview and air-side system description

This work presents an overview of the Segmented Aperture Interferometric Nulling Testbed (SAINT), a project that will pair an actively-controlled macro-scale segmented mirror with the Visible Nulling Coronagraph (VNC). SAINT will incorporate the VNC’s demonstrated wavefront sensing and control system to refine and quantify end-to-end high-contrast starlight suppression performance. This pathfinder testbed will be used as a tool to study and refine approaches to mitigating instabilities and complex diffraction expected from future large segmented aperture telescopes.

Optical modeling activities for NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST): Part V. Operational alignment updates

This paper is part five of a series on the ongoing optical modeling activities for the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). The first two papers discussed modeling JWST on-orbit performance using wavefront sensitivities to predict line of sight motion induced blur, and stability during thermal transients. The third paper investigates the aberrations resulting from alignment and figure compensation of the controllable degrees of freedom (primary and secondary mirrors), which may be encountered during ground alignment and on-orbit commissioning of the observatory, and the fourth introduced the software toolkits used to perform much of the optical analysis for JWST. The work here models observatory operations by simulating line-of-sight image motion and alignment drifts over a two-week period. Alignment updates are then simulated using wavefront sensing and control processes to calculate and perform the corrections. A single model environment in Matlab is used for evaluating the predicted performance of the observatory during these operations.

Cryogenic optical test planning using the Optical Telescope Element Simulator with the James Webb Space Telescope Integrated Science Instrument Module

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is a 6.5 m diameter, segmented, deployable telescope for cryogenic infrared space astronomy (~40 K). The JWST Observatory architecture includes the Optical Telescope Element (OTE) and the Integrated Science Instrument Module (ISIM) element that contains four science instruments (SIs), including a guider. The SI and guider units are integrated to the ISIM structure and optically tested at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center as an instrument suite using a telescope simulator (Optical Telescope Element SIMulator; OSIM). OSIM is a high-fidelity, cryogenic JWST telescope simulator that features a ~1.5m diameter powered mirror. The SIs are aligned to the flight structure’s coordinate system under ambient, clean room conditions using optomechanical metrology and customized interfaces. OSIM is aligned to the ISIM mechanical coordinate system at the cryogenic operating temperature via internal mechanisms and feedback from alignment sensors and metrology in six degrees of freedom. SI performance, including focus, pupil shear, pupil roll, boresight, wavefront error, and image quality, is evaluated at the operating temperature using OSIM. The comprehensive optical test plans include drafting OSIM source configurations for thousands of exposures ahead of the start of a cryogenic test campaign. We describe how we predicted the performance of OSIM light sources illuminating the ISIM detectors to aide in drafting these optical tests before a test campaign began. We also discuss the actual challenges and successes of those exposure predictions encountered during a test campaign to fulfill the demands of the ISIM optical performance verification.

High-contrast imager for complex aperture telescopes (HiCAT): 5. first results with segmented-aperture coronagraph and wavefront control

Segmented telescopes are a possible approach to enable large-aperture space telescopes for the direct imaging and spectroscopy of habitable worlds. However, the increased complexity of their aperture geometry, due to the central obstruction, support structures and segment gaps, makes high-contrast imaging very challenging. The High-contrast imager for Complex Aperture Telescopes (HiCAT) testbed was designed to study and develop solutions for such telescope pupils using wavefront control and coronagraphic starlight suppression. The testbed design has the flexibility to enable studies with increasing complexity for telescope aperture geometries starting with off-axis telescopes, then on-axis telescopes with central obstruction and support structures - e.g. the Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST) - up to on-axis segmented telescopes, including various concepts for a Large UV, Optical, IR telescope (LUVOIR). In the past year, HiCAT has made significant hardware and software updates in order to accelerate the development of the project. In addition to completely overhauling the software that runs the testbed, we have completed several hardware upgrades, including the second and third deformable mirror, and the first custom Apodized Pupil Lyot Coronagraph (APLC) optimized for the HiCAT aperture, which is similar to one of the possible geometries considered for LUVOIR. The testbed also includes several external metrology features for rapid replacement of parts, and in particular the ability to test multiple apodizers readily, an active tip-tilt control system to compensate for local vibration and air turbulence in the enclosure. On the software and operations side, the software infrastructure enables 24/7 automated experiments that include routine calibration tasks and high-contrast experiments. In this communication we present an overview and status update of the project, both on the hardware and software side, and describe the results obtained with APLC wavefront control.

Segmented Aperture Interferometric Nulling Testbed (SAINT) II: component systems update

This work presents updates to the coronagraph and telescope components of the Segmented Aperture Interferometric Nulling Testbed (SAINT). The project pairs an actively-controlled macro-scale segmented mirror with the Visible Nulling Coronagraph (VNC) towards demonstrating capabilities for the future space observatories needed to directly detect and characterize a significant sample of Earth-sized worlds around nearby stars in the quest for identifying those which may be habitable and possibly harbor life. Efforts to improve the VNC wavefront control optics and mechanisms towards repeating narrowband results are described. A narrative is provided for the design of new optical components aimed at enabling broadband performance. Initial work with the hardware and software interface for controlling the segmented telescope mirror is also presented.

Fabrication of petal-shaped masks for suppression of the on-axis Poisson spot in telescope systems

The presence of a bright (Poisson) spot in the geometrical shadow of circular/spherical shapes has been known for the past two centuries. A broad class of telescopes that involve simultaneous transmit and receive require suppression of the reflected light from the secondary mirror on the detector. For instance, the on-axis design of optical telescope for the evolved Laser Interferometric Space Antenna (eLISA), a re-scoped version of the baseline LISA mission concept, requires suppression of reflected laser light from the secondary mirror on the detector. In the past few years, the hypergaussian functions with petal-shaped realization have been shown to significantly suppress intensity along the optical axis. This work reports on fabrication of a series of petal-shaped masks using a variety of techniques such as 3D printing, photolithography, and wire Electro Discharge Machining. These masks are designed and fabricated to operate in the range of Fresnel numbers between 4 and 120. This paper discusses the challenges, successes, and failures of each fabrication technique and the optical performance of typical masks with suggestions for potential follow up work.