Charles Atkinson

Mitchell Institute

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Co-Authors

Jonathan W. Arenberg

Northrop Grumman (United States)

Lee Feinberg

Goddard Space Flight Center

Paul A. Lightsey

Ball (France)

Ritva Keski-Kuha

Goddard Space Flight Center

S. Texter

Northrop Grumman (United States)

Gary Matthews

Goddard Space Flight Center

Larry Gilman

Northrop Grumman (United States)

Allison Barto

Ball (France)

Michael W. McElwain

Goddard Space Flight Center

Marcel Bluth

KBR (United States)

Cooperative Institutions

Space Telescope Science Institute

604

Goddard Space Flight Center

341

Northrop Grumman (United States)

170

Johns Hopkins University

University of Arizona

Michigan Science Center

European Space Agency

European Space Research and Technology Centre

Max Planck Institute for Astronomy

California Institute of Technology

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An Infrared Telescope for Planet Detection and General Astrophysics

Chuck Lillie Charles Atkinson L. S. Casement M. R. Flannery Keith Kroening

NASA plans to launch a Terrestrial Planet Finder (TPF) mission in 2014 to detect and characterize Earth-like planets around nearby stars, perform comparative planetology studies, and obtain general astrophysics observations. During our recently completed a TPF Mission Architecture study for NASA/JPL we developed the conceptual design for a 28-meter telescope with an IR Coronagraph that meets these mission objectives. This telescope and the technology it embodies are directly applicable to future Far-IR and Submillimeter space missions. The detection of a 30th magnitude planet located within 50 milli-arc-seconds of a 5th (Visual) magnitude star is an exceptionally challenging objective. Observations in the thermal infrared (7-17 microns) are somewhat easier since the planet is only 15(sup m) fainter than the star at these wavelengths, but many severe challenges must still be overcome. These challenges include: 1. Designing a coronagraph for star:planet separations less than or equal to lambda/D. 2. Developing the deployment scheme for a 28m space telescope that can fit in an existing launch vehicle payload fairing. 3. Generating configuration layouts for the IR telescope, coronagraph, spacecraft bus, sunshade, solar array, and high-gain antenna. 4. Providing: Structural stability to within 10 microns to support the optics. Thermal control to achieve the necessary structural stability, as well as providing a stable (approx. 30K) thermal environment for the optics. Dynamics isolation from potential jitter sources. 5. Minimizing launch mass to provide the maximum payload for the science mission Interfacing to an EELV Heavy launch vehicle, including acoustic and stress loads for the launch environment. 6. Identifying the key technologies (which can be developed by 2009) that will enable TPF mission to be performed. 7. Generating a manufacturing plan that will permit TPF to be developed at a reasonable cost and schedule. Many of these design challenges result in inherently conflicting requirements on the design of TPF. Drawing on our experience with large space telescopes such as the Chandra X-ray Observatory and the Next Generation Space Telescope, we have created a conceptual design for TPF that successfully meets these challenging requirements. This paper describes our solution to these challenges.

Coronagraph

Payload (computing)

Spitzer Space Telescope

Optical telescope

Infrared telescope

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Ensuring the enduring viability of the space science enterprise: new questions, new thinking, new paradigms

Proceedings of SPIE, the International Society for Optical Engineering/Proceedings of SPIE (2016)

Jonathan W. Arenberg Charles Atkinson Alberto Conti

Pursuing ground breaking science in a highly cost-constrained environment presents new challenges to the development of future space astrophysics missions. Within the conventional cost models for large observatories, executing a flagship "mission after next" appears to be unsustainable. To achieve our nation's science ambitions requires not a paradigm shift but a completely new paradigm of system design, development and manufacture. This paper explores the nature of the current paradigm and proposes a series of steps to guide the entire community to a sustainable future.

10.1117/12.2234492

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The Science Performance of JWST as Characterized in Commissioning

Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific (2023)

Jane R. Rigby Marshall D. Perrin Michael W. McElwain Randy A. Kimble S. D. Friedman

Abstract This paper characterizes the actual science performance of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), as determined from the six month commissioning period. We summarize the performance of the spacecraft, telescope, science instruments, and ground system, with an emphasis on differences from pre-launch expectations. Commissioning has made clear that JWST is fully capable of achieving the discoveries for which it was built. Moreover, almost across the board, the science performance of JWST is better than expected; in most cases, JWST will go deeper faster than expected. The telescope and instrument suite have demonstrated the sensitivity, stability, image quality, and spectral range that are necessary to transform our understanding of the cosmos through observations spanning from near-earth asteroids to the most distant galaxies.

10.1088/1538-3873/acb293

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Citations (229)

James Webb Space Telescope: large deployable cryogenic telescope in space

Optical Engineering (2012)

Paul A. Lightsey Charles Atkinson Mark Clampin Lee Feinberg

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is an infrared space telescope designed to explore four major science themes: first light and reionization, the assembly of galaxies, the birth of stars and protoplanetary systems, and planetary systems and origins of life. JWST is a segmented architecture telescope with an aperture of 6.6 m. It will operate at cryogenic temperature (40 K), achieved via passive cooling, in an orbit about the Earth-Sun second Lagrange point (L2). Passive cooling is facilitated by means of a large sunshield that provides thermal isolation and protection from direct illumination from the Sun. The large size of the telescope and spacecraft systems require that they are stowed for launch in a configuration that fits the Ariane 5 fairing, and then deployed after launch. Routine wavefront sensing and control measurements are used to achieve phasing of the segmented primary mirror and initial alignment of the telescope. A suite of instruments will provide the capability to observe over a spectral range from 0.6- to 27-μm wavelengths with imaging and spectroscopic configurations. An overview is presented of the architecture and selected optical design features of JWST are described.

Spitzer Space Telescope

Coronagraph

Optical telescope

Orbital mechanics

Lagrangian point

10.1117/1.oe.51.1.011003

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Citations (169)

Technology demonstration of large stable cryogenic composite structures for JWST

Proceedings of SPIE, the International Society for Optical Engineering/Proceedings of SPIE (2007)

Charles Atkinson Jonathan W. Arenberg Larry Gilman Ted Messer Patty May

The need for JWST's metering structure to be stable over time while at cryogenic temperatures is derived from its scientific objectives. The operational scenario planned for JWST provides for the optical system to be adjusted on regular intervals based upon image quality measurements. There can only be a limited amount of optical degradation between the optical system adjustments in order to meet the scientific objectives. As the JWST primary mirror is segmented, the structure supporting the mirror segments must be very stable to preclude degradation of the optical quality. The design, development and, ultimately, the verification of that supporting structure's stability rely on the availability of analysis tools that are credibly capable of accurately estimating the response of a large structure in cryogenic environments to the nanometer level. Validating the accuracy of the analysis tools was a significant technology demonstration accomplishment. As the culmination of a series of development efforts, a thermal stability test was performed on the Backplane Stability Test Article (BSTA), demonstrating TRL-6 status for the design, analysis, and testing of Large Precision Cryogenic Structures. This paper describes the incremental development efforts and the test results that were generated as part of the BSTA testing and the associated TRL-6 demonstration.

Backplane

10.1117/12.734753

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Citations (6)

The James Webb Space Telescope Mission

arXiv (Cornell University) (2023)

Jonathan P. Gardner John C. Mather R. Abbott James S. Abell Mark Abernathy

Twenty-six years ago a small committee report, building on earlier studies, expounded a compelling and poetic vision for the future of astronomy, calling for an infrared-optimized space telescope with an aperture of at least $4m$. With the support of their governments in the US, Europe, and Canada, 20,000 people realized that vision as the $6.5m$ James Webb Space Telescope. A generation of astronomers will celebrate their accomplishments for the life of the mission, potentially as long as 20 years, and beyond. This report and the scientific discoveries that follow are extended thank-you notes to the 20,000 team members. The telescope is working perfectly, with much better image quality than expected. In this and accompanying papers, we give a brief history, describe the observatory, outline its objectives and current observing program, and discuss the inventions and people who made it possible. We cite detailed reports on the design and the measured performance on orbit.

Spitzer Space Telescope

Aperture (computer memory)

10.48550/arxiv.2304.04869

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Citations (12)

Consortium for the Application of Space Data To Education

Charles Atkinson Margaret Martin B. Sword

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Ensuring the enduring viability of large space science missions (Conference Presentation)

Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2020: Optical, Infrared, and Millimeter Wave (2018)

Jonathan W. Arenberg Charles Atkinson Alberto Conti

Pursuing ground breaking science in a highly cost and funding constrained environment presents new challenges to the development of future large space astrophysics missions. Within the conventional cost models for large observatories, executing a flagship "mission after next" appears to be unstainable. To achieve our nation's space astrophysics ambitions requires new paradigms in system design, development and manufacture. Implementation of this new paradigm requires that the space astrophysics community adopt new answers to a new set of questions. This paper will discuss the origins of these new questions and the steps to their answers.

Presentation (obstetrics)

Space research

10.1117/12.2312378

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Citations (1)

<title>TRW/Ball: Next Generation Space Telescope (NGST)</title>

Proceedings of SPIE, the International Society for Optical Engineering/Proceedings of SPIE (2000)

James H. Crocker Charles Atkinson Dennis Ebbets Larry Gilman Paul A. Lightsey

The Next Generation Space Telescope will be the premier instrument for astrophysical research a decade from now. This paper describes the reference concept for the observatory being studied by a prime contractor team led by TRW and Ball Aerospace. We give an overview of the space segment of the mission, and the rationale for its heliocentric orbit at the Sun-Earth L2 Lagrangian point. At the time of this meeting many details of the engineering design are still open for trade studies. We highlight a few whose resolution will have implications for the scientific performance of the observatory, and for which preferences and recommendations from the scientific community are welcomed.

Spitzer Space Telescope

Lagrangian point

Orbital mechanics

10.1117/12.394044

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Citations (2)

A new paradigm for space astrophysics mission design

Proceedings of SPIE, the International Society for Optical Engineering/Proceedings of SPIE (2014)

Jonathan W. Arenberg Charles Atkinson Jim B. Breckinridge Alberto Conti Lee Feinberg

Pursuing ground breaking science in a highly cost-constrained environment presents new challenges to the development of future space astrophysics missions. Within the conventional cost models for large observatories, executing a flagship "mission after next" appears to be unstainable. To achieve our nation's science ambitions requires a new paradigm of system design, development and manufacture. This paper explores the nature of the current paradigm and proposes a series of steps to guide the entire community to a sustainable future.

space technology

10.1117/12.2055509

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Citations (2)