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Gong, Qian

Publications and source records attributed to Gong, Qian.

At least 37 records · Page 2
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2018

WFIRST Integral Field Spectrograph Design and Operations Concept

One important aspect of the WFIRST coronagraphic instrument (CGI) technology demonstration is its ability to take high contrast spectra with an integral field spectrograph (IFS). Future missions such as LUVOIR and HabEx rely on IFS technologies for the spectral characterization of any objects they discover; spectral characterization is the core science of their exoplanet imaging instruments. The CGI IFS, being designed and built and Goddard Space Flight Center, has a spectral resolution of R50 and is designed to accommodate a 20% bandpass spanning 600-970nm. The bands and spectral resolution were chosen by the science investigation teams to target key methane absorption features, with the aim of constraining abundances. For CGI as a technology demonstration, these are the minimum set of defining features to demonstrate on-orbit wavefront control with an IFS capable of producing science. The ability to close a wavefront control loop around an IFS, maintain a stable dark hole, and provide time resolved data that simultaneously spans spatial and spectral dimensions are crucial demonstrations for future observatories. We highlight the IFS requirements and how the on-orbit calibration is handled. We also provide further detail on the optomechanical design, its stability based on thermal and structural predictions, anticipated performance, and operations concept of the CGI IFS.

Groff, Tyler↗
NASA NTRS2018

Optical Design and Status of the Large Ultra-Violet Optical Infrared Surveyor (LUVOIR)

"In preparation for the Astrophysics 2020 Decadal Survey NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center is studying a segmented aperture telescope with broad astrophysics, solar system, and exoplanet science capability called the Large Ultra-Violet Optical Infrared Surveyor (LUVOIR). This telescope design incorporates many heritage design concepts from the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), and the Wide-field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST). This includes similar ultraviolet instrumentation from HST, deployable segmented optics from JWST, and high-contrast coronagraph technology from WFIRST. Several optical design trades were completed to maximize the science product while maintaining reasonable packaging and fabrication constraints. Other technology developments such as freeform optics, UV enhanced coatings, coronagraph design, and ultra-stable mirrors are being studied to further improve the observatory performance.

Ultraviolet↗
NASA NTRS2018

WFIRST CGI Integral Field Spectrograph Performance and Post-Processing in the OS6 Observing Scenario

The WFIRST coronagraph instrument (CGI) will have an integral field spectrograph (IFS) backend to disperse the entire field of view at once and obtain spatially-resolved, low-resolution spectra of the speckles and science scene. The IFS will be key to understanding the spectral nature of the speckles, obtain science spectra of planets and disks, and will be used for broadband wavefront control. In order to characterize, predict, and optimize the performance of the instrument, we present a detailed model of the IFS in the context of the new OS6 observing scenario. The simulation includes spatial, spectral, and temporal variations of the speckle field on the IFS detector plane, which allows us to explore several post-processing methods and assess what gains can be expected. The simulator includes the latest models of the detector behavior when operating in photon-counting mode.

WFIRST coronagraph instrument (CGI)↗
NASA NTRS2018

Spherical Occulter Coronagraph Cubesat

The present invention relates to a space-based instrument which provides continuous coronal electron temperature and velocity images, for a predetermined period of time, thereby improving the understanding of coronal evolution and how the solar wind and Coronal Mass Ejection transients evolve from the low solar atmosphere through the heliosphere for an entire solar rotation. Specifically, the present invention relates to using a 6U spherical occulter coronagraph CubeSat, and a relative navigational system (RNS) that controls the position of the spacecraft relative to the occulting sphere. The present invention innovatively deploys a free-flying spherical occulter, and after deployment, the actively controlled CubeSat will provide an inertial formation flying with the spherical occulter and Sun.

Davila, Joseph M.↗
NASA NTRS2018

The IFS for WFIRST CGI: Science Requirements to Design

Direct Imaging of exoplanets using a coronagraph has become a major field of research both on the ground and in space. Key to the science of direct imaging is the spectroscopic capabilities of the instrument, our ability to extract spectra, and measure the abundance of molecular species such as Methane. To take these spectra, the WFIRST coronagraph instrument (CGI) uses an integral field spectrograph (IFS), which encodes the spectrum into a two-dimensional image on the detector. This results in more efficient detection and characterization of targets, and the spectral information is critical to achieving detection limits below the speckle floor of the imager. The CGI IFS operates in two18% bands spanning 600nm to 840nm at a nominal spectral resolution of R50. We present the current science and engineering requirements for the IFS design, the instrument design, anticipated performance, and how the calibration is integrated into the focal plane wavefront control algorithms. We also highlight the role of the Prototype Imaging Spectrograph for Coronagraphic Exoplanet Studies (PISCES) at the JPL High Contrast Imaging Testbed to demonstrate performance and validate calibration methodologies for the flight instrument.

Groff, Tyler D.↗
NASA NTRS2017

Current Science Requirements and Planned Implementation for the WFIRST-CGI Integral Field Spectrograph (IFS)

One of the key science goals of the Coronograph Instrument (CGI) on the WFIRST mission is to spectrally characterize the atmospheres of planets around other stars at extremely high contrast levels. To achieve this goal, the CGI Instrument will include a integral field spectrograph (IFS) as one of the two science cameras. We present the current science requirements that pertain to the IFS design, describe how our design implementation flows from these requirements, and outline our current instrument design.

Mandell, Avi M.↗
NASA NTRS2017

Flight Integral Field Spectrograph (IFS) Optical Design for WFIRST Coronagraphic Exoplanet Demonstration

Based on the experience from Prototype Imaging Spectrograph for Coronagraphic Exoplanet Studies (PISCES) for WFIRST, we have moved to the flight instrument design phase. The specifications for flight IFS have similarities and differences from the prototype. This paper starts with the science and system requirement, discusses a number of critical trade-offs: such as IFS type selection, lenslet array shape and layout versus detector pixel accuracy, how to accommodate the larger Field Of View (FOV) and wider wavelength band for a potential add-on StarShade occulter. Finally, the traditional geometric optical design is also investigated and traded: reflective versus refractive, telecentric versus non-telecentric relay. The relay before the lenslet array controls the chief angle distribution on the lenslet array. Our previous paper has addressed how the relay design combined with lenslet arraypinhole mask can further compress the residual star light and increase the contrast. Finally, a complete phase A IFS optical design is presented.

Integral Field spectrograph↗
NASA NTRS2017

The Large UV/Optical/Infrared Surveyor (LUVOIR): Decadal Mission Concept Design Update

In preparation for the 2020 Astrophysics Decadal Survey, NASA has commissioned the study of four large mission concepts, including the Large Ultraviolet / Optical / Infrared (LUVOIR) Surveyor. The LUVOIR Science and Technology Definition Team (STDT) has identified a broad range of science objectives including the direct imaging and spectral characterization of habitable exoplanets around sun-like stars, the study of galaxy formation and evolution, the epoch of reionization, star and planet formation, and the remote sensing of Solar System bodies. NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) is providing the design and engineering support to develop executable and feasible mission concepts that are capable of the identified science objectives. We present an update on the first of two architectures being studied: a 15-meter-diameter segmented-aperture telescope with a suite of serviceable instruments operating over a range of wavelengths between 100 nm to 2.5 microns. Four instruments are being developed for this architecture: an optical / near-infrared coronagraph capable of 10(exp -10) contrast at inner working angles as small as 2 lambda/D; the LUVOIR UV Multi-object Spectrograph (LUMOS), which will provide low- and medium-resolution UV (100 – 400 nm) multi-object imaging spectroscopy in addition to far-UV imaging; the High Definition Imager (HDI), a high-resolution wide-field-of-view NUV-Optical-IR imager; and a UV spectro-polarimeter being contributed by Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales (CNES). A fifth instrument, a multi-resolution optical-NIR spectrograph, is planned as part of a second architecture to be studied in late 2017.

Decadal Study; Astrophysics; LUVOIR↗
NASA NTRS2017

Replacing the Polarizer Wheel with a Polarization Camera to Increase the Temporal Resolution and Reduce the Overall Complexity of a Solar Coronagraph

Experiments that require linearly polarized brightness measurements, traditionally have obtained three successive images through a linear polarizer that is rotated through three well-defined angles and the images are combined to get the linearly polarized brightness. This technique requires a mechanism to hold the linear polarizer in place and to precisely turn it through the three angles. Obviously, the temporal resolution is lost in such a scenario, since the three images that are used to derive the linearly polarized brightness are taken at three different times. Specifically, in a dynamic corona that is in constant reshaping of its structures, the linearly polarized brightness image produced in this manner may not yield true values all around the corona. In this regard, with the advent of the polarization camera, the linearly polarized brightness can be measured from a single image. This also eliminates the need for a linear polarizer and the associated rotator mechanisms and can contribute toward lower weight, size, power requirements, overall risk of the instrument, and most importantly, increase the temporal resolution. We evaluate the capabilities of a selected polarization camera and how these capabilities could be tested in a ground experiment conducted in conjunction with a total solar eclipse. The ground experiment requires the measurement of the linearly polarized brightness, also known as K-corona, in a corona that also contains unpolarized brightness, known as F-corona, in order to measure three important physical properties pertaining to coronal electrons, namely, the electron density, electron temperature, and the electron speed.

Reginald, Nelson L.↗
NASA NTRS2016

An Integral Field Spectrograph Utilizing Mirrorlet Arrays

An integral field spectrograph (IFS) has been developed that utilizes a new and novel optical design to observe two spatial dimensions simultaneously with one spectral dimension. This design employs an optical 2-D array of reflecting and focusing mirrorlets. This mirrorlet array is placed at the imaging plane of the front-end telescope to generate a 2-D array of tiny spots replacing what would be the slit in a traditional slit spectrometer design. After the mirrorlet in the optical path, a grating on a concave mirror surface will image the spot array and provide high-resolution spectrum for each spatial element at the same time; therefore, the IFS simultaneously obtains the 3-D data cube of two spatial and one spectral dimensions. The new mirrorlet technology is currently in-house and undergoing laboratory testing at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. Section 1 describes traditional classes of instruments that are used in Heliophysics missions and a quick introduction to the new IFS design. Section 2 discusses the details of the most generic mirrorlet IFS, while section 3 presents test results of a lab-based instrument. An example application to a Heliophysics mission to study solar eruptive events in extreme ultraviolet wavelengths is presented in section 4 that has high spatial resolution (0.5 arc sec pixels) in the two spatial dimensions and high spectral resolution (66 m) across a 15 spectral window. Section 4 also concludes with some other optical variations that could be employed on the more basic IFS for further capabilities of this type of instrument.

Chamberlin, Phillip C.↗
NASA NTRS2016

A Comprehensive Radial Velocity Error Budget for Next Generation Doppler Spectrometers

We describe a detailed radial velocity error budget for the NASA-NSF Extreme Precision Doppler Spectrometer instrument concept NEID (NN-explore Exoplanet Investigations with Doppler spectroscopy). Such an instrument performance budget is a necessity for both identifying the variety of noise sources currently limiting Doppler measurements, and estimating the achievable performance of next generation exoplanet hunting Doppler spectrometers. For these instruments, no single source of instrumental error is expected to set the overall measurement floor. Rather, the overall instrumental measurement precision is set by the contribution of many individual error sources. We use a combination of numerical simulations, educated estimates based on published materials, extrapolations of physical models, results from laboratory measurements of spectroscopic subsystems, and informed upper limits for a variety of error sources to identify likely sources of systematic error and construct our global instrument performance error budget. While natively focused on the performance of the NEID instrument, this modular performance budget is immediately adaptable to a number of current and future instruments. Such an approach is an important step in charting a path towards improving Doppler measurement precisions to the levels necessary for discovering Earth-like planets.

NASA-NSF Extreme Precision Doppler Spectrometer in↗
NASA NTRS2016

PISCES: An Integral Field Spectrograph Technology Demonstration for the WFIRST Coronagraph

We present the design, integration, and test of the Prototype Imaging Spectrograph for Coronagraphic Exoplanet Studies (PISCES) integral field spectrograph (IFS). The PISCES design meets the science requirements for the Wide-Field Infra Red Survey Telescope (WFIRST) Coronagraph Instrument (CGI). PISCES was integrated and tested in the integral field spectroscopy laboratory at NASA Goddard. In June 2016, PISCES was delivered to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) where it was integrated with the Shaped Pupil Coronagraph (SPC) High Contrast Imaging Testbed (HCIT). The SPC/PISCES configuration will demonstrate high contrast integral field spectroscopy as part of the WFIRST CGI technology development program.

Prototype Imaging Spectrograph for Coronagraphic E↗
NASA NTRS2016

Wide-Field InfraRed Survey Telescope (WFIRST) Slitless Spectrometer: Design, Prototype, and Results

The slitless spectrometer plays an important role in the Wide-Field InfraRed Survey Telescope (WFIRST) mission for the survey of emission-line galaxies. This will be an unprecedented very wide field, HST quality 3D survey of emission line galaxies. The concept of the compound grism as a slitless spectrometer has been presented previously. The presentation briefly discusses the challenges and solutions of the optical design, and recent specification updates, as well as a brief comparison between the prototype and the latest design. However, the emphasis of this paper is the progress of the grism prototype: the fabrication and test of the complicated diffractive optical elements and powered prism, as well as grism assembly alignment and testing. Especially how to use different tools and methods, such as IR phase shift and wavelength shift interferometry, to complete the element and assembly tests. The paper also presents very encouraging results from recent element tests to assembly tests. Finally we briefly touch the path forward plan to test the spectral characteristic, such as spectral resolution and response.

Grism↗
NASA NTRS2016

Lenslet Array to Further Suppress Star Light for Direct Exoplanet Detection

Direct imaging plays a key role in the detection and characterization of exoplanets orbiting within its host star's habitable zone. Many innovative ideas for starlight suppression and wavefront control have been proposed and developed over the past decade. However, several technological challenges still lie ahead to achieve the required contrast, including controlling the observatory pointing performance, fabricating occulting masks with tight optical tolerances, developing wavefront control algorithms, controlling stray light, advancing single photon detecting detectors, and integrated system-level issues. This paper explores how a lenslet array and pinhole mask may be implemented to further suppress uncorrected starlight that leaks through the occulting mask. An external occulter, or star shade, is simulated to demonstrate this concept, although this approach can be implemented for internal coronagraphs as well. We describe how to use simple relay optics to control the scene near the inner working angle and the level of the suppression expected. Furthermore, if the lenslet array is the input to an integral field spectrograph, as planned for the WFIRST mission, the spectral content of the exoplanet atmospheres can be obtained to determine if the observed planet is habitable and ultimately, if it is inhabited.

Integral Field spectrograph↗
NASA NTRS2016

Spectral and Wavefront Error Performance of WFIRST/AFTA Prototype Filters

The Cycle 5 design baseline for the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Telescope Astrophysics Focused Telescope Assets (WFIRSTAFTA) instrument includes a single wide-field channel (WFC) instrument for both imaging and slit-less spectroscopy. The only routinely moving part during scientific observations for this wide-field channel is the element wheel (EW) assembly. This filter-wheel assembly will have 8 positions that will be populated with 6 bandpass filters, a blank position, and a Grism that will consist of a three-element assembly to disperse the full field with an undeviated central wavelength for galaxy redshift surveys. All filter elements in the EW assembly will be made out of fused silica substrates (110 mm diameter) that will have the appropriate bandpass coatings according to the filter designations (Z087, Y106, J129, H158, F184, W149 and Grism). This paper presents and discusses the performance (including spectral transmission and reflectedtransmitted wavefront error measurements) of a subset of bandpass filter coating prototypes that are based on the WFC instrument filter compliment. The bandpass coating prototypes that are tested in this effort correspond to the Z087, W149, and Grism filter elements. These filter coatings have been procured from three different vendors to assess the most challenging aspects in terms of the in-band throughput, out of band rejection (including the cut-on and cutoff slopes), and the impact the wavefront error distortions of these filter coatings will have on the imaging performance of the de-field channel in the WFIRSTAFTA observatory.

cryogenic temperatures↗
NASA NTRS2015

PISCES High Contrast Integral Field Spectrograph Simulations and Data Reduction Pipeline

The PISCES (Prototype Imaging Spectrograph for Coronagraphic Exoplanet Studies) is a lenslet array based integral field spectrograph (IFS) designed to advance the technology readiness of the WFIRST (Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope)-AFTA (Astrophysics Focused Telescope Assets) high contrast Coronagraph Instrument. We present the end to end optical simulator and plans for the data reduction pipeline (DRP). The optical simulator was created with a combination of the IDL (Interactive Data Language)-based PROPER (optical propagation) library and Zemax (a MatLab script), while the data reduction pipeline is a modified version of the Gemini Planet Imager's (GPI) IDL pipeline. The simulations of the propagation of light through the instrument are based on Fourier transform algorithms. The DRP enables transformation of the PISCES IFS data to calibrated spectral data cubes.

The PISCES (Prototype Imaging Spectrograph for Cor↗
NASA NTRS2015

Prototype Imaging Spectrograph for Coronagraphic Exoplanet Studies (PISCES) for WFIRST/AFTA

Prototype Imaging Spectrograph for Coronagraphic Exoplanet Studies (PISCES) is a prototype lenslet array based integral field spectrometer (IFS) designed for high contrast imaging of extrasolar planets. PISCES will be used to advance the technology readiness of the high contrast IFS baselined on the Wide-Field InfraRed Survey TelescopeAstrophysics Focused Telescope Assets (WFIRSTAFTA) coronagraph instrument. PISCES will be integrated into the high contrast imaging testbed (HCIT) at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and will work with both the Hybrid Lyot Coronagraph (HLC) and the Shaped Pupil Coronagraph (SPC). We will present the PISCES optical design, including the similarities and differences of lenslet based IFSs to normal spectrometers, the trade-off between a refractive design and reflective design, as well as the compatibility to upgrade from the current 1k x 1k detector array to 4k x 4k detector array. The optical analysis, alignment plan, and mechanical design of the instrument will be discussed.

Integral Field Spectrometer↗