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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2022

Phased plan for the implementation of the time-resolving magnetic recoil spectrometer on the National Ignition Facility (NIF)

The time-resolving magnetic recoil spectrometer (MRSt) is a transformative diagnostic that will be used to measure the time-resolved neutron spectrum from an inertial confinement fusion implosion at the National Ignition Facility (NIF). It uses a CD foil on the outside of the hohlraum to convert fusion neutrons to recoil deuterons. An ion-optical system positioned outside the NIF target chamber energy-disperses and focuses forward-scattered deuterons. A pulse-dilation drift tube (PDDT) subsequently dilates, un-skews, and detects the signal. While the foil and ion-optical system have been designed, the PDDT requires more development before it can be implemented. Therefore, a phased plan is presented that first uses the foil and ion-optical systems with detectors that can be implemented immediately—namely CR-39 and hDISC streak cameras. These detectors will allow the MRSt to be commissioned in an intermediate stage and begin collecting data on a reduced timescale, while the PDDT is developed in parallel. A CR-39 detector will be used in phase 1 for the measurement of the time-integrated neutron spectra with excellent energy-resolution, necessary for the energy calibration of the system. Streak cameras will be used in phase 2 for measurement of the time-resolved spectrum with limited spectral coverage, which is sufficient to diagnose the time-resolved ion temperature. Simulations are presented that predict the performance of the streak camera detector, indicating that it will achieve excellent burn history measurements at current yields, and good time-resolved ion-temperature measurements at yields above 3 × 10 17 . The PDDT will be used for optimal efficiency and resolution in phase 3.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
NASA NTRS2003

Beam Tests of the Balloon-Borne ATIC Experiment

The Advanced Thin Ionization Calorimeter (ATIC) balloon-borne experiment is designed to perform cosmic-ray elemental spectra measurement from 50 GeV to 100 TeV for nuclei from hydrogen to iron. These measurements are expected to provide crucial hints about some of the most fundamental questions in astroparticle physics today. ATTIC'S design centers on an 18 radiation length (X(sub Omnicron)) deep bismuth germanate (BGO) calorimeter, preceded by a 0.75 lambda(sub int) graphite target. In September 1999 the ATIC detector was exposed to high-energy beams at CERN's SPS accelerator, within the framework of the development program for the Advanced Cosmic-ray Composition Experiment for the Space Station (ACCESS). In December 2000 - January 2001, ATIC flew on the first of a series of long duration balloon (LDB) flights from McMurdo Station, Antarctica. We present here results from the 1999 beam-tests, including energy resolutions for electrons and protons at several beam energies from 100 GeV to 375 GeV, as well as signal linearity and collection efficiency estimates. We show how these results compare with expectations based on simulations, and their expected impacts on mission performance.

Ganel, O.↗
DOE OSTI2023

Background studies and normalization of signal events in the Mu2e experiment

The Mu2e experiment is currently being constructed at Fermilab to search for the neutrino-less conversion of negative muons into electrons in the field of an aluminum nucleus. The experiment aims at a sensitivity of four orders of magnitude higher than previous related experiments, which implies highly demanding accuracy requirements both in the design and during the operation. To achieve such a goal, two important tasks should be accomplished. First, it is essential to estimate precisely the particle yields and all the backgrounds that could mimic the monoenergetic conversion electron signal. Second, it is necessary to normalize the signal events accurately. The normalization of the signal events is planned to be done using a detector system made of an HPGe detector and a Lanthanum Bromide detector, which will measure the rate of muons stopped on the aluminum target by looking at the emitted characteristic X-and γ-rays of energies up to 1809 keV. Therefore, it is essential to evaluate the detector system's performance before the start of the actual experiment. In this study, the first task was addressed by an extensive campaign of Monte Carlo simulations to investigate the relevant parameters and their impact on the experiment's sensitivity. The second task was handled by taking advantage of the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) pulsed Bremsstrahlung photon beam at the ELBE facility. The detector system was tested at the ELBE facility under timing and background conditions similar to the ones expected at the Mu2e experiment. The study presents and discusses the simulation results and the detector system testing campaign.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2026

SBND Shower Reconstruction with SPINE

The Short-Baseline Near Detector (SBND) is a liquid argon time projection chamber (LArTPC) neutrino detector in the Short-Baseline Neutrino (SBN) program at Fermilab. SBND is designed to investigate the Low-Energy Excess (LEE), an unexplained excess of electron-like events observed by previous short-baseline neutrino experiments that may point to physics beyond the Standard Model. In LArTPC detectors, precise shower reconstruction is essential for distinguishing electrons from photons, a key requirement for testing possible explanations of the LEE and improving $\nu_e$ event selection. In this poster, the reconstruction studies using the Scalable Particle Imaging with Neural Embeddings (SPINE), a machine learning based reconstruction framework for particle imaging detectors will be presented. SPINE combines sparse convolutional neural networks (CNN) and graph neural networks (GNN) to enable detailed reconstruction and characterization of neutrino interactions in LArTPC detectors. Shower calorimetry and kinematic reconstruction are performed in dedicated post-processing stages. Strong agreement between data and Monte Carlo simulation will be demonstrated, indicating high-precision detector calibration and reconstruction performance. The agreement between reconstructed and true electron shower energy will also be discussed, emphasizing the robustness of the shower reconstruction performance. These results demonstrate the unprecedented precision achievable with SPINE in SBND, highlighting their potential for future high-resolution neutrino measurements.

Fan, Castaly [Florida U.; Fermilab] (ORCID:0000000↗
NASA NTRS2005

Aircraft Fault Detection and Classification Using Multi-Level Immune Learning Detection

This work is an extension of a recently developed software tool called MILD (Multi-level Immune Learning Detection), which implements a negative selection algorithm for anomaly and fault detection that is inspired by the human immune system. The immunity-based approach can detect a broad spectrum of known and unforeseen faults. We extend MILD by applying a neural network classifier to identify the pattern of fault detectors that are activated during fault detection. Consequently, MILD now performs fault detection and identification of the system under investigation. This paper describes the application of MILD to detect and classify faults of a generic transport aircraft augmented with an intelligent flight controller. The intelligent control architecture is designed to accommodate faults without the need to explicitly identify them. Adding knowledge about the existence and type of a fault will improve the handling qualities of a degraded aircraft and impact tactical and strategic maneuvering decisions. In addition, providing fault information to the pilot is important for maintaining situational awareness so that he can avoid performing an action that might lead to unexpected behavior - e.g., an action that exceeds the remaining control authority of the damaged aircraft. We discuss the detection and classification results of simulated failures of the aircraft's control system and show that MILD is effective at determining the problem with low false alarm and misclassification rates.

Wong, Derek↗
DOE OSTI2023

Diffused trenches for high fill-factor Low-Gain Avalanche Diodes

Low-Gain Avalanche Diodes (LGADs) are a class of silicon detectors that have been specifically designed for the fast detection of minimum ionizing particles (mips) in High-Energy Physics experiments. While they provide timing resolution on the order of a few tens of picoseconds, they cannot achieve high spatial resolution due to the intrinsic characteristics of their structures. Thus, active R&D is on-going to develop detectors based on LGADs to improve their spatial resolution while maintaining the timing performance of the LGADs. Such devices are, for example, AC-coupled LGADs and Deep-Junction LGADs. Another device option is the Trench-Isolated LGAD (TI LGAD), where trenches etched at the periphery of the pixels isolate them while providing a high fill-factor. Here, in this paper, we present a variation of this latter approach, demonstrating its feasibility by means of 2-dimensional TCAD simulations.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
DOE OSTI2025

A new metrics framework for quantifying and intercomparing atmospheric rivers in observations, reanalyses, and climate models

We present a new atmospheric river (AR) analysis and benchmarking tool, namely Atmospheric River Metrics Package (ARMP). It includes a suite of new AR metrics that are designed for quick analysis of AR characteristics via statistics in gridded climate datasets such as model output and reanalysis. This package can be used for climate model evaluation in comparison with reanalysis and observational products. Integrated metrics such as mean bias and spatial pattern correlation are efficient for diagnosing systematic AR biases in climate models. For example, the package identifies the fact that, in CMIP5 and CMIP6 (Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phases 5 and 6) models, AR tracks in the South Atlantic are positioned farther poleward compared to ERA5 reanalysis, while in the South Pacific, tracks are generally biased towards the Equator. For the landfalling AR peak season, we find that most climate models simulate a completely opposite seasonal cycle over western Africa. This tool can also be used for identifying and characterizing structural differences among different AR detectors (ARDTs). For example, ARs detected with the Mundhenk algorithm exhibit systematically larger size, width, and length compared to the TempestExtremes (TE) method. The AR metrics developed from this work can be routinely applied for model benchmarking and during the development cycle to trace performance evolution across model versions or generations and set objective targets for the improvement of models. They can also be used by operational centers to perform near-real-time climate and extreme event impact assessments as part of their forecast cycle.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗
NASA NTRS1987

Optimum filters and smoothers design for carrier phase and frequency tracking

The report presents the application of fixed lag smoothing algorithms to the problem of estimation of the phase and frequency of a sinusoidal carrier received in the presence of process noise and additive observation noise. A suboptimal structure consists of a phase-locked loop (PLL) followed by post-loop correction to the phase and frequency estimates. When the PLL is operating under high signal-to-noise ratio, the phase detector is approximately linear, and the smoother equations then correspond to the optimal linear equations for an equivalent linear signal model. The performance of such a smoother can be predicted by linear filtering theory. However, if the PLL is operating near the threshold region of the signal-to-noise ratio, the phase detector cannot be assumed to be linear. Then the actual performance of the smoother can significantly differ from that predicted by linear theory. In this report we present both the theoretical and simulated performance of such smoothers derived on the basis of various models for the phase and frequency processes.

Kumar, Rajendra↗
DOE OSTI2023

Fast neutron background characterization of the future Ricochet experiment at the ILL research nuclear reactor

Abstract The future Ricochet experiment aims at searching for new physics in the electroweak sector by providing a high precision measurement of the Coherent Elastic Neutrino-Nucleus Scattering (CENNS) process down to the sub-100 eV nuclear recoil energy range. The experiment will deploy a kg-scale low-energy-threshold detector array combining Ge and Zn target crystals 8.8 m away from the 58 MW research nuclear reactor core of the Institut Laue Langevin (ILL) in Grenoble, France. Currently, the Ricochet Collaboration is characterizing the backgrounds at its future experimental site in order to optimize the experiment’s shielding design. The most threatening background component, which cannot be actively rejected by particle identification, consists of keV-scale neutron-induced nuclear recoils. These initial fast neutrons are generated by the reactor core and surrounding experiments (reactogenics), and by the cosmic rays producing primary neutrons and muon-induced neutrons in the surrounding materials. In this paper, we present the Ricochet neutron background characterization using $$^3$$ 3 He proportional counters which exhibit a high sensitivity to thermal, epithermal and fast neutrons. We compare these measurements to the Ricochet Geant4 simulations to validate our reactogenic and cosmogenic neutron background estimations. Eventually, we present our estimated neutron background for the future Ricochet experiment and the resulting CENNS detection significance. Our results show that depending on the effectiveness of the muon veto, we expect a total nuclear recoil background rate between 44 ± 3 and 9 ± 2 events/day/kg in the CENNS region of interest, i.e. between 50 eV and 1 keV. We therefore found that the Ricochet experiment should reach a statistical significance of 4.6 to 13.6 $$\sigma $$ σ for the detection of CENNS after one reactor cycle, when only the limiting neutron background is considered.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
NASA NTRS1992

Tracking performance and cycle slipping in the all-digital symbol synchronizer loop of the block 5 receiver

Computer simulated noise performance of the symbol synchronizer loop (SSL) in the Block 5 receiver is compared with the theoretical noise performance. Good agreement is seen at the higher loop SNR's (SNR(sub L)'s), with gradual degradation as the SNR(sub L) is decreased. For the different cases simulated, cycle slipping is observed (within the simulation time of 10(exp 4) seconds) at SNR(sub L)'s below different thresholds, ranging from 6 to 8.5 dB, comparable to that of a classical phase-locked loop. An important point, however, is that to achieve the desired loop SNR above the seemingly low threshold to avoid cycle slipping, a large data-to-loop-noise power ratio, P(sub D)/(N(sub 0)B(sub L)), is necessary (at least 13 dB larger than the desired SNR(sub L) in the optimum case and larger otherwise). This is due to the large squaring loss (greater than or equal to 13 dB) inherent in the SSL. For the special case of symbol rates approximately equaling the loop update rate, a more accurate equivalent model accounting for an extra loop update period delay (characteristic of the SSL phase detector design) is derived. This model results in a more accurate estimation of the noise-equivalent bandwidth of the loop.

Aung, M.↗
NASA NTRS2000

Scientific Objectives of the Mars Surveyor 2001 Gamma-Ray Spectrometer

The Gamma-Ray Spectrometer (GRS) is one of the instruments on the Mars Surveyor 2001 Orbiter, which is part of NASA's Mars-Surveyor program. The GRS is really an instrument suite consisting of the GRS, a neutron spectrometer (NS), and a high-energy neutron detector (FIEND). Each of these instruments/sensors are remotely mounted at different locations on the spacecraft and connect to a central electronics box. The GRS will achieve global mapping of the elemental composition of the surface and the abundance of hydrogen in the shallow subsurface. It is an updated design using the same technology as the lost Mars Observer mission. The Martian surface is continuously bombarded by cosmic ray particles; their interactions with the constituents of the soil produces nuclear reaction cascades with fast neutrons being the main secondaries. Those neutrons interact in turn with the nuclei of the elements that make up the soil and they eventually get slowed to thermal energies. In this process they leave the nuclei in an excited state that decays via the emission of characteristic gamma rays. All these processes are precisely known and have been simulated by means of numerical models. Thus, remote gamma-ray spectroscopy is a useful method for quantitatively measuring the geochemical composition of the surface down to a few tens of g/sq cm. Additional information is contained in original extended abstract.

Boynton, W. V.↗
NASA NTRS2010

NASA Tech Briefs, December 2010

Topics include: Coherent Frequency Reference System for the NASA Deep Space Network; Diamond Heat-Spreader for Submillimeter-Wave Frequency Multipliers; 180-GHz I-Q Second Harmonic Resistive Mixer MMIC; Ultra-Low-Noise W-Band MMIC Detector Modules; 338-GHz Semiconductor Amplifier Module; Power Amplifier Module with 734-mW Continuous Wave Output Power; Multiple Differential-Amplifier MMICs Embedded in Waveguides; Rapid Corner Detection Using FPGAs; Special Component Designs for Differential-Amplifier MMICs; Multi-Stage System for Automatic Target Recognition; Single-Receiver GPS Phase Bias Resolution; Ultra-Wideband Angle-of-Arrival Tracking Systems; Update on Waveguide-Embedded Differential MMIC Amplifiers; Automation Framework for Flight Dynamics Products Generation; Product Operations Status Summary Metrics; Mars Terrain Generation; Application-Controlled Parallel Asynchronous Input/Output Utility; Planetary Image Geometry Library; Propulsion Design With Freeform Fabrication (PDFF); Economical Fabrication of Thick-Section Ceramic Matrix Composites; Process for Making a Noble Metal on Tin Oxide Catalyst; Stacked Corrugated Horn Rings; Refinements in an Mg/MgH2/H2O-Based Hydrogen Generator; Continuous/Batch Mg/MgH2/H2O-Based Hydrogen Generator; Strain System for the Motion Base Shuttle Mission Simulator; Ko Displacement Theory for Structural Shape Predictions; Pyrotechnic Actuator for Retracting Tubes Between MSL Subsystems; Surface-Enhanced X-Ray Fluorescence; Infrared Sensor on Unmanned Aircraft Transmits Time-Critical Wildfire Data; and Slopes To Prevent Trapping of Bubbles in Microfluidic Channels.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS2016

Meeting the Grand Challenge of Protecting Astronauts Health: Electrostatic Active Space Radiation Shielding for Deep Space Missions

This report describes the research completed during 2011 for the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) project. The research is motivated by the desire to safely send humans in deep space missions and to keep radiation exposures within permitted limits. To this end current material shielding, developed for low earth orbit missions, is not a viable option due to payload and cost penalties. The active radiation shielding is the path forward for such missions. To achieve active space radiation shielding innovative large lightweight gossamer space structures are used. The goal is to deflect enough positive ions without attracting negatively charged plasma and to investigate if a charged Gossamer structure can perform charge deflections without significant structural instabilities occurring. In this study different innovative configurations are explored to design an optimum active shielding. In addition, to establish technological feasibility experiments are performed with up to 10kV of membrane charging, and an electron flux source with up to 5keV of energy and 5mA of current. While these charge flux energy levels are much less than those encountered in space, the fundamental coupled interaction of charged Gossamer structures with the ambient charge flux can be experimentally investigated. Of interest are, will the EIMS remain inflated during the charge deflections, and are there visible charge flux interactions. Aluminum coated Mylar membrane prototype structures are created to test their inflation capability using electrostatic charging. To simulate the charge flux, a 5keV electron emitter is utilized. The remaining charge flux at the end of the test chamber is measured with a Faraday cup mounted on a movable boom. A range of experiments with this electron emitter and detector were performed within a 30x60cm vacuum chamber with vacuum environment capability of 10-7 Torr. Experiments are performed with the charge flux aimed at the electrostatically inflated membrane structure (EIMS) in both charged and uncharged configurations. The amount of charge shielding behind and around the EIMS was studied for different combinations of membrane structure voltages and electron energies. Both passive and active shielding were observed, with active shielding capable of deflecting nearly all incoming electrons. The pattern of charge distribution around the structure was studied as well as the stability of the structures in the charge flow. The charge deflection experiments illustrate that the EIMS remain inflated during charge deflection, but will experience small amplitude oscillations. Investigations were performed to determine a potential cause of the vibrations. It is postulated these vibrations are due to the charge flux causing local membrane charge distribution changes. As the membrane structure inflation pressure is changed, the shape responds, and causes the observed sustained vibration. Having identified this phenomenon is important when considering electrostatically inflated membrane structures (EIMS) in a space environment. Additionally, this project included a study of membrane material impacts, specifically the impact of membrane thickness. Extremely thin materials presented new challenges with vacuum preparation techniques and rapid charging. The thinner and lighter membrane materials were successfully inflated using electrostatic forces in a vacuum chamber. However, care must be taken when varying the potentials of such lighter structures as the currents can cause local heating and melting of the very thin membranes. Lastly, a preliminary analysis is performed to study rough order of magnitude power requirements for using EIMS for radiation shielding. The EIMS power requirement becomes increasingly more challenging as the spacecraft voltage is increased. As a result, the emphasis is on the deflection of charges away from the spacecraft rather than totally stopping them. This significantly alleviates the initial power requirements. With modest technological development(s) active shielding is emerging to be a viable option.

Radiation↗
DOE OSTI2022

MAGIS-100 environmental characterization and noise analysis

We investigate and analyze site specific systematics for the MAGIS-100 atomic interferometry experiment at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. As atom interferometers move out of the laboratory environment passive and active mitigation for noise sources must be implemented. To inform the research and development of the experiment design, we measure ambient temperature, humidity, and vibrations of the installation site. We find that temperature fluctuations will necessitate enclosures for critical subsystems and a temperature controlled laser room for the laser system. We also measure and analyze the vibration spectrum above and below ground for the installation site. The seismic vibration effect of gravity gradient noise is also modeled using input from a low-noise seismometer at multiple locations and a mitigation scheme is studied using a stochastic simulation and characterized by a suppression factor.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2024

Demonstration of neutron time-of-flight diffraction with an event-mode imaging detector

Neutron diffraction beamlines have traditionally relied on deploying large detector arrays of 3 He tubes or neutron-sensitive scintillators coupled with photomultipliers to efficiently probe crystallographic and microstructure information of a given material. Given the large upfront cost of custom-made data acquisition systems and the recent scarcity of 3 He, new diffraction beamlines or upgrades to existing ones demand innovative approaches. This paper introduces a novel Timepix3-based event-mode imaging neutron diffraction detector system as well as first results of a silicon powder diffraction measurement made at the HIPPO neutron powder diffractometer at the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center. Notably, these initial measurements were conducted simultaneously with the 3 He array on HIPPO, enabling direct comparison. Data reduction for this type of data was implemented in the MAUD code, enabling Rietveld analysis. Results from the Timepix3-based setup and HIPPO were benchmarked against McStas simulations, showing good agreement for peak resolution. With further development, systems such as the one presented here may substantially reduce the cost of detector systems for new neutron instrumentation as well as for upgrades of existing beamlines.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Abatement of ionizing radiation for superconducting quantum devices

Ionizing radiation has been shown to reduce the performance of superconducting quantum circuits. In this report, we evaluate the expected contributions of different sources of ambient radioactivity for typical superconducting qubit experiment platforms. Our assessment of radioactivity inside a typical cryostat highlights the importance of selecting appropriate materials for the experiment components nearest to qubit devices, such as packaging and electrical interconnects. We present a shallow underground facility (30-meter water equivalent) to reduce the flux of cosmic rays and a lead shielded cryostat to abate the naturally occurring radiogenic gamma-ray flux in the laboratory environment. We predict that superconducting qubit devices operated in this facility could experience a reduced rate of correlated multi-qubit errors by a factor of approximately 20 relative to the rate in a typical above-ground, unshielded facility. Finally, we outline overall design improvements that would be required to further reduce the residual ionizing radiation rate, down to the limit of current generation direct detection dark matter experiments.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
NASA NTRS1996

The Response of the BATSE LADs to Radiation From the Crab Nebula and Plans for Radioactivity Studies on Space Station

The Burst And Transient Source Experiment (BATSE) onboard the Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory (CGRO) was designed to measure X-rays and gamma rays with energies from about 50 keV to above 2 MeV. As with many scientific investigations, the success of the original experiment lead to additional areas of research interest. In the case of BATSE the ability to observe the radiation from sources down to about 20 keV became readily apparent. This lead to a continuing program of measuring the spectrum of radiation from stellar objects at these lower energies. One of these, the Crab Nebula, has a very steady radiation flux and, thus, has become a "standard candle" for such measurements. The Large Area Detectors (LADS) on BATSE contain a 1.27-cm thick, 25.4-cm radius NaI(Tl) detector behind a 6.35-mm thick polystyrene Charged Particle Detector (CPD) used to "veto" charged particles signals. The detectors have been calibrated with a series of gamma and X-ray sources and the results carefully simulated with a Monte Carlo code. In the calibration process the computer simulation accounts for scattering from material in the counting room as well as the BATSE structure. For an orbiting detector, scattering from the entire spacecraft must be modeled as well as for all covering material over the detectors. Five years after CGRO was launched on April 5, 1991, a large body of observational data has been taken of the Crab Nebula. The technique used for these observations, and for many other X-ray sources, is Earth occultation. From the perspective of the spacecraft, the Earth occults most stellar objects once in orbit, i.e., the signal is lost as the source sets and is regained as the source rises. A careful analysis of the continuing signals from all sources measured allows for an accurate measurement of the spectrum of a given source. An analysis of this data from the Crab has indicated that the LADs are very responsive at energies as low as 20 keV-at energies below the range of calibration. While the model accounts for many of the interactions of the photons with the detectors, the observation of nonstatistical deviations at low energy and at small angles has suggested a need to recalibrate at energies where the attenuation effects are increasing exponentially.

Laird, C. E.↗
NASA NTRS2017

Precision Projector Laboratory: Detector Characterization with an Astronomical Emulation Testbed

As astronomical observations benefit from improved sensitivity, the effectiveness of scientific programs is becoming limited by systematics that often originate in poorly understood image sensor behavior. Traditional, bottom-up detector characterization methods provide one way to model underlying detector physics, and generate ever more faithful numerical simulations, but this approach is vulnerable to preconceptions and over-simplification. The alternative top-down approach is laboratory emulation, which enables observation, calibration, and analysis scenarios to be tested without relying on a complete understanding of the underlying physics. This complements detector characterization and simulation efforts by testing their validity. We describe a laboratory facility and experimental testbed that supports the emulation of a wide range of mission concepts such as gravitational weak lensing measurements by WFIRST and high precision spectrophotometry of transiting exoplanets by JWST. An Offner relay projects readily customizable "scenes" (e.g. stars, galaxies, spectra) with very low optical aberration over the full area of a typical optical or near infrared image sensor. f/8 and slower focal ratios may be selected, spanning those of most proposed space missions and approximating the point spread function (PSF) size of seeing limited ground based surveys. Diffraction limited PSFs are projected over a wide field of view and wavelength range to deliver highly predictable image patterns down to sub-pixel scales with stable intensity and fine motion control. The testbed enables realistic validation of detector performance on science-like images, which aids mission design and survey strategy, as well as targeted investigations of various detector effects.

Seshadri, Suresh↗