Optical design of the Origins Space Telescope

Our paper discusses the optical design of the Origins Space Telescope. Origins is one of four large missions under study in preparation for the 2020 Decadal Survey in Astronomy and Astrophysics. Sensitive to the mid- and far-infrared spectrum (between 2.8 and 588  μm), Origins sets out to answer a number of important scientific questions by addressing NASA’s three key science goals in astrophysics. The Origins telescope operates at f  /  14. The design includes a 5.9-m-diameter primary mirror. The large on-axis primary consists of 18 “keystone” segments of two different prescriptions arranged in two annuli (six inner and twelve outer segments) that together form a circular aperture in the goal of achieving a symmetric point spread function. To accommodate the 46  ×  15  arc min full field of view (FOV) of the telescope at the design wavelength of λ  =  30  μm, a three-mirror anastigmat configuration is used. The design is diffraction-limited across its instruments’ FOV. A brief discussion of each of the three baselined instruments within the Instrument Accommodation Module is presented: (1) Origins Survey Spectrometer, (2) Mid-infrared Spectrometer, Camera transit spectrometer channel, and (3) Far-Infrared Polarimeter/Imager. In addition, the upscope options for the observatory are laid out as well including a fourth instrument: the Heterodyne Receiver for Origins.