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FIREBall-2: advancing TRL while doing proof- of-concept astrophysics on a suborbital platform Item Type Article Authors Hamden, Erika T.; Hoadley, Keri; Martin, Christopher; Schiminovich, David; Milliard, Bruno; Nikzad, Shouleh; Augustin, Ramona; Balard, Philippe; Blanchard, Patrick; Bray, Nicolas; Crabill, Marty; Evrard, Jean; Gomes, Albert; Grange, Robert; Gross, Julia; Jewell, April D.; Kyne, Gillian; Lemon, Michele; Lingner, Nicole; Matuszewski, Matt; Melso, Nicole; Mirc, Frédéri; Montel, Johan; Ong, Hwei Ru; O'Sullivan, Donal; Pascal, Sandrine; Pérot, Etienne; Picouet, Vincent; Saccoccio, Muriel; Smiley, Brian; Soors, Xavier; Tapie, Pierre; Vibert, Didier; Zenone, Isabelle; Zorilla, Jose Citation Hamden, E. T., Hoadley, K., Martin, D. C., Schiminovich, D., Milliard, B., Nikzad, S., ... & Crabill, M. (2019, May). FIREBall-2: advancing TRL while doing proof-of-concept astrophysics on a suborbital platform. In Micro-and Nanotechnology Sensors, Systems, and Applications XI (Vol. 10982, p. 1098220). International Society for Optics and Photonics. DOI 10.1117/12.2518711 Publisher SPIE-INT SOC OPTICAL ENGINEERING Journal MICRO- AND NANOTECHNOLOGY SENSORS, SYSTEMS, AND APPLICATIONS XI Rights © 2019 SPIE. Download date 26/09/2021 12:47:53 Item License http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ Version Final published version Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/634782 PROCEEDINGS OF SPIE SPIEDigitalLibrary.org/conference-proceedings-of-spie FIREBall-2: advancing TRL while doing proof-of-concept astrophysics on a suborbital platform Erika T. Hamden, Keri Hoadley, D. Christopher Martin, David Schiminovich, Bruno Milliard, et al. Erika T. Hamden, Keri Hoadley, D. Christopher Martin, David Schiminovich, Bruno Milliard, Shouleh Nikzad, Ramona Augustin, Philippe Balard, Patrick Blanchard, Nicolas Bray, Marty Crabill, Jean Evrard, Albert Gomes, Robert Grange, Julia Gross, April Jewell, Gillian Kyne, Michele Limon, Nicole Lingner, Mateusz Matuszewski, Nicole Melso, Frédéri Mirc, Johan Montel, Hwei Ru Ong, Donal O'Sullivan, Sandrine Pascal, Etienne Perot, Vincent Picouet, Muriel Saccoccio, Brian Smiley, Xavier Soors, Pierre Tapie, Didier Vibert, Isabelle Zenone, Jose Zorrilla, "FIREBall-2: advancing TRL while doing proof- of-concept astrophysics on a suborbital platform," Proc. SPIE 10982, Micro- and Nanotechnology Sensors, Systems, and Applications XI, 1098220 (13 May 2019); doi: 10.1117/12.2518711 Event: SPIE Defense + Commercial Sensing, 2019, Baltimore, Maryland, United States Downloaded From: https://www.spiedigitallibrary.org/conference-proceedings-of-spie on 15 Oct 2019 Terms of Use: https://www.spiedigitallibrary.org/terms-of-use Invited Paper FIREBall-2: advancing TRL while doing proof-of-concept astrophysics on a suborbital platform a b b c Erika T. Hamden , Keri Hoadley , D. Christopher Martin , David Schiminovich , Bruno d e d d d Milliard , Shouleh Nikzad , Ramona Augustin , Philippe Balard , Patrick Blanchard , Nicolas f b f f d c Bray , Marty Crabill , Jean Evrard , Albert Gomes , Robert Grange , Julia Gross , April e b,e c b b Jewell , Gillian Kyne , Michele Limon , Nicole Lingner , Mateusz Matuszewski , Nicole c f f c b d Melso , Frederi Mirc , Johan Montel , Hwei Ru Ong , Donal O'Sullivan , Sandrine Pascal , f d f c f Etienne Perot , Vincent Picouet , Muriel Saccoccio , Brian Smiley , Xavier Soors , Pierre f d f c Tapie , Didier Vibert , Isabelle Zenone , and Jose Zorrilla a University of Arizona, Steward Observatory, 933 N Cherry Ave, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA b California Institute of Technology, Division of Physics, Math, and Astronomy, 1200 E California Blvd, MC 278-17, Pasadena, CA 91105, USA c Columbia University, 550 W 120th St, New York, NY 10027, USA d Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Marseille, 38 Rue Frdric Joliot Curie, 13013 Marseille, France e NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, CA 91109, USA f Centre national d'´etudes spatiales, 18 Avenue Edouard Belin, 31400 Toulouse, France ABSTRACT Here we discuss advances in UV technology over the last decade, with an emphasis on photon counting, low noise, high efficiency detectors in sub-orbital programs. We focus on the use of innovative UV detectors in a NASA astrophysics balloon telescope, FIREBall-2, which successfully flew in the Fall of 2018. The FIREBall-2 telescope is designed to make observations of distant galaxies to understand more about how they evolve by looking for diffuse hydrogen in the galactic halo. The payload utilizes a 1.0-meter class telescope with an ultraviolet multi- object spectrograph and is a joint collaboration between Caltech, JPL, LAM, CNES, Columbia, the University of Arizona, and NASA. The improved detector technology that was tested on FIREBall-2 can be applied to any UV mission. We discuss the results of the flight and detector performance. We will also discuss the utility of sub-orbital platforms (both balloon payloads and rockets) for testing new technologies and proof-of-concept scientific ideas. Keywords: UV detectors, CGM, Galaxy Evolution, TRL Advancement, Scientific Ballooning 1. INTRODUCTION The development of new detector technology is a key component of NASA's mission to advance our understanding of the universe around us. New advances in technology are always the precursors to discovery. Typically, NASA funds astrophysics technology development through the Astrophysics Research and Analysis (APRA) and Strategic Astrophysics Technology (SAT) programs, which are designed to take technology concepts from a low technology readiness level (TRL), up to a TRL of 6, at which point the technology can be included in proposals for space missions and are considered relatively low risk. In addition to funding technology development, NASA funds sub-orbital science investigations under APRA, either using sounding rockets or balloon flights to provide access to a near-space environment. These sub-orbital science investigations are typically seen as both interesting in their own right, but also as pathfinders for future space missions. The ability to increase a technology's TRL is just as important as the science goals of the missions. Because of the low cost of the sub-orbital program, riskier science can also be tested out. Additionally, Further author information: (Send correspondence to E.T.Hamden) E.T.Hamden: E-mail: [email protected] Micro- and Nanotechnology Sensors, Systems, and Applications XI, edited by Thomas George, M. Saif Islam, Proc. of SPIE Vol. 10982, 1098220 · © 2019 SPIE CCC code: 0277-786X/19/$18 · doi: 10.1117/12.2518711 Proc. of SPIE Vol. 10982 1098220-1 Downloaded From: https://www.spiedigitallibrary.org/conference-proceedings-of-spie on 15 Oct 2019 Terms of Use: https://www.spiedigitallibrary.org/terms-of-use these programs are not required to follow the more standard NASA management/risk mitigation program of a higher cost/profile mission, and so offer an opportunity for student and post-doc training that is not possible for Class-D or higher mission profiles. The ability to try out risky, interesting science, to test new technology, and to train future PIs is unique in NASA's portfolio. The sub-orbital program is a crucial, but under-appreciated, gem of NASA. Funded via the APRA program, the Faint Intergalactic-medium Redshifted Emission Balloon (FIREBall), is a perfect example of the benefits of building a sub-orbital program. The science is at the forefront of modern extra-galactic astronomy. The experiment has provided one for the first test flights of an important UV detector technology. The program as a whole has trained over 10 graduate students, with several becoming PIs in their own right. FIREBall is designed to discover and map faint emission from the circumgalactic medium of low redshift galaxies (0.3<z<1.0). This payload is a upgrade of FIREBall-11 (FB-1), a path-finding mission built by our team with two successful flights (2007 Engineering, 2009 Science). FB-1 provided the strongest constrains on intergalactic and circumgalactic (IGM, CGM) emission available from any instrument at the time.2 FIREBall-2 significantly upgraded the spectrograph to increase the field of view, the number of targets observed, and most importantly, the overall system efficiency. The key component of FIREBall-2 was the use of a UV optimized, delta-doped, anti-reflection coated, electron multiplying CCD detector (EMCCDs), which has eight times better throughput that the FB-1 detector (a GALEX spare near-UV microchannel plate). FIREBall-2 had its first flight in the fall of 2018 from Fort Sumner, NM and acted as a pathfinder and test-bed for this new UV detector technology. 1.1 FIREBall Science Goals The IGM is a fundamental element of our universe, as essential to our conception of the cosmos as stars and galaxies. The IGM delineates the large-scale structure of the universe and the majority of baryons at both high and low redshift reside here. It is the original source of fuel for star formation and is, in turn, altered by feedback from supernovae and galactic activity. Observing and understanding the IGM and its many parts are essential to our understanding of the universe as a whole. Yet for such a key part of galactic evolution, we know surprisingly little about the IGM, either within galactic halos as the CGM or part of the large-scale cosmic web. Historically, observations of any parts of the IGM, even the brighter CGM material in-flowing into galaxies, were impossible to conduct given the low luminosity. Absorption line studies of the Ly-α forest are the only way we are certain it even exists in the low-redshift universe.3{5 Observations of the brightest components of the IGM are at the very forefront of modern astronomy, requiring better technology, better analysis, and better observing techniques. Improved detectors, higher throughput optics, and state of the art instruments are right now opening a new field of IGM astronomy at high redshifts, where Ly-α is observable at visible wavelengths, as recent results from the Palomar and Keck Cosmic Web Imagers (PCWI & KCWI6{9) and Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE10{12) attest. 1.2 UV detector technology The history of UV astrophysics has been one of technology limitations.