Workshop Overview:
This Technology Development Workshop is co-sponsored by the Aerospace Corporation, the Breakthrough Prize Foundation and the W. M. Keck Institute for Space Studies (KISS). It is a follow-on to the 2014-15 KISS Study, Science and Enabling Technologies to Explore the Interstellar Medium – http://kiss.caltech.edu/programs.html#ism. Several mission possibilities were identified there, in terms of increasing distance into the interstellar medium: Kuiper Belt Objects, Far Interstellar Medium (>200 AU), and the Solar Gravity Lens Focus (SGLF) Mission (>600 AU). The interest in the SGLF mission is that it may provide the best, affordable way to achieve kilometer scale images and spatially resolved spectra of resolved features associated with a putative biomass.
This study will provide an opportunity for in-depth discussion in science, instrumentation and mission – which we hope will lead to specific design and technology development proposals to enable this mission to be launched in the mid-2020s.
A 3.5 day workshop will explore the Technology Requirements for a potential mission to the Solar Gravity Lens Focus [agenda].
The principle of the Solar Gravity Lens and creation of an exoplanet image is explained here: [Physics Paper].
How a possible mission to the Solar Gravity Lens Focus >550 AU from the Sun might be designed, and the technology tradeoffs to be considered is described here: [Mission Paper].
(The graphics at the top of this webpage shows a 1-meter telescope with a coronagraph (with 10-6 suppression) placed in the focal area of the solar gravitational lens (SGL) can image an exoplanet at the distance up to 100 light years with a kilometer-scale resolution on its surface. In addition, spectroscopic broadband signal-to-noise ratio is ~106 in 2 weeks of integration time, providing this instrument with incredible remote-sensing capabilities. See concept description at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hjaj-Ig9jBs).
Team Leads
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Louis Friedman
The Planetary Society
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Caltech
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JPL
| Speaker | Affiliation | Presentation |
|---|---|---|
| Time | Speaker | |
| 8:30 – 9:00 | Coffee and Carbs – Sign in | |
| 9:00 – 9:15 | Michele Judd | |
| 9:15 – 9:30 | Louis Friedman | |
| 9:30 – 9:45 | Dimitri Mawet | |
| 9:45 – 10:15 | All | |
| 10:15 – 10:45 | Break | |
| 10:45 – 11:45 | Slava Turyshev | |
| 11:45 – 12:30 | Mike Shao | |
| 12:30 – 2:00 | LUNCH ON YOUR OWN | |
| 2:00 – 3:30 | Louis Friedman | |
| 3:30 – 4:00 | Break | |
| 4:00 – 5:00 | Karl Stapelfeldt | |
| 5:00 – 5:30 | Dmitiri Mawet | |
| 5:30 – 6:00 | Slava Turyshev | |
| 6:00 | Hosted Dinner at the Athenaeum | |
| Time | Speaker | |
| 8:30 – 9:00 | All | |
| 9:00 – 10:00 | Louis Friedman | |
| JPL ISM STP Study Summary | (4.89 MB .pdf) | Nitin Arora, Jonathan Murphy, Leon Alkalai, Jonathan Sauder and JPL Team-X Study Team |
| Solar & Electric Sailing | (2.85 MB .pdf) | Jared Dervan |
| Mission architecture/CONOPS | (1.35 MB .pdf) | John Brophy |
| Science Group | Slava Turyshev/Dmitiri Mawet | |
| Coronagraph concept(s) | (3.7 MB .pdf) | Hanying Zhou |
| 10:00 – 10:30 | Break | |
| 10:30 – 12:00 | Groups Discussion Continue | |
| 12:00 – 1:30 | LUNCH ON YOUR OWN | |
| 1:30 – 3:30 | Plenary | |
| 4:15 – 4:30 | Walk to Lees-Kubota Hall, Guggenheim Building | |
| 4:30 – 5:00 | Refreshments | |
| 6:00 | Hosted Dinner at Athenaeum | |
| Time | Speaker | |
| 8:30 – 9:00 | All | |
| 9:00 – 12:00 | Sub-Groups | |
| 12:00 – 1:30 | LUNCH ON OUR OWN | |
| 1:30 – 3:30 | Plenary | |
| 3:30 – 4:00 | Break | |
| 4:00 – 6:00 | Plenary | |
| 6:00 | DINNER ON YOUR OWN | |
| Time | Speaker | |
| 8:30 – 8:45 | Review | |
| 8:45 – 10:00 | Sub-Groups | |
| 10:00 – 10:30 | Break | |
| 10:30 – 11:30 | Plenary | |
| 11:30 – 12:30 | Plenary |
- Reggie Alexander — NASA-MSFC
- Leon Alkalai — JPL
- Nitin Arora — JPL
- Nathan Barnes — L’Garde
- David Bearden — JPL
- John Brophy — JPL
- Artur Davoyan — Caltech
- Jared Dervan — NASA-MSFC
- Louis Friedman — The Planetary Society (Emeritus)
- Darren Garber — NXTRAC
- Tom Heinsheimer — Aerospace Corp
- Henry Helvajian — Aerospace Corp
- Renyu Hu — JPL
- Pete Klupar — Breakthrough Prize Foundation
- Jeff Kuhn — U. Hawaii
- Geoffrey Landis — NASA-GRC
- Dimitri Mawet — Caltech
- Kevin Parkin — Parkin Research
- Michael Shao — JPL
- Nathan Strange — JPL
- Karl Stapelfeldt — JPL
- Tomas Svitek — Stellar Exploration
- Slava Turyshev — JPL
- David Van Buren — JPL
- Ji Wang — Caltech, post-Doc
- Karl Yee — JPL
- Hanying Zhou — JPL
Study Reference List
Reference List
Below are some references we have gathered relevant to our study. Many more references about particular technologies, scientific investigations, and orbits will be cited during the study. We welcome additions and suggestions for this compilation of references.
- “Diffraction of electromagnetic waves in the gravitational field of the Sun” by Slava G. Turyshev and Viktor T. Toth
- “First Stop on the Interstellar Journey: The Solar Gravity Lens Focus” by Louis Friedman and Slava G. Turyshev
- “A Mission to Find and Study Life on an Exoplanet” by Slava G. Turyshev, Michael Shao, and Louis Friedman
- “Direct Multipixel Imaging and Spectroscopy of an Exoplanet with a Solar Gravity Lens Mission” by Slava G. Turyshev, Michael Shao, Leon Alkalai, Nitin Aurora, Darren Garber, Henry Helvajian, Tom Heinsheimer, Siegfried Janson, Jared R. Males, Dmitri Mawet, Roy Nakagawa, Seth Redfield, Janice Shen, Nathan Strange, Mark R. Swain, Viktor T. Toth, Phil A. Willems, John L. West, Stacy Weinstein-Weiss, Hanying Zhou
- “Mission to the Gravitational Focus of the Sun: A Critical Analysis” by Geoffrey A. Landis. paper AIAA-2017-1679, AIAA Science and Technology Forum and Exposition 2017, Grapevine TX, January 9-13, 2017.
- “A Vision for Planetary and Exoplanets Science: Exploration of the Interstellar Medium – The Space Between Stars” by Leon Alkala, Nitin Arora, Slava Turyshev, Michael Shao, Stacy Weinstein-Weiss, Merav Opher and Seth Redfield. 68th International Astronautical Congress, Adelaide, Australia. (paper)
- “A Vision for Planetary and Exoplanets Science: Exploration of the Interstellar Medium – The Space Between Stars” by Leon Alkala, Nitin Arora, Slava Turyshev, Michael Shao, Stacy Weinstein-Weiss, Merav Opher and Seth Redfield. 68th International Astronautical Congress, Adelaide, Australia. (presentation)
