The origins space telescope
Paper in proceeding, 2019

The Origins Space Telescope will trace the history of our origins from the time dust and heavy elements permanently altered the cosmic landscape to present-day life. How did galaxies evolve from the earliest galactic systems to those found in the universe today? How do habitable planets form? How common are life-bearing worlds? To answer these alluring questions, Origins will operate at mid-and far-infrared wavelengths and offer powerful spectroscopic instruments and sensitivity three orders of magnitude better than that of Herschel, the largest telescope flown in space to date. After a 3 1/2 year study, the Origins Science and Technology Definition Team will recommend to the Decadal Survey a concept for Origins with a 5.9-m diameter telescope cryocooled to 4.5 K and equipped with three scientific instruments. A mid-infrared instrument (MISC-T) will measure the spectra of transiting exoplanets in the 2.8-20 μm wavelength range and offer unprecedented sensitivity, enabling definitive biosignature detections. The Far-IR Imager Polarimeter (FIP) will be able to survey thousands of square degrees with broadband imaging at 50 and 250 μm. The Origins Survey Spectrometer (OSS) will cover wavelengths from 25-588 μm, make wide-area and deep spectroscopic surveys with spectral resolving power R ∼ 300, and pointed observations at R ∼ 40,000 and 300,000 with selectable instrument modes. Origins was designed to minimize complexity. The telescope has a Spitzer-like architecture and requires very few deployments after launch. The cryo-thermal system design leverages JWST technology and experience. A combination of current-state-of-the-art cryocoolers and next-generation detector technology will enable Origins' natural backgroundlimited sensitivity.

Author

David Leisawitz

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

E. Amatucci

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

L. Allen

Harris Corporation

J. Arenberg

Northrop Grumman corporation

Lee Armus

California Institute of Technology (Caltech)

C. Battersby

University of Connecticut

B.G. Beaman

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

James Bauer

University of Maryland

R. Bell

Lockheed Martin Corporation

P. Beltran

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

Dominic Benford

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

E. A. Bergin

University of Michigan

J. Bolognese

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

C. Matt Bradford

Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology

D. Bradley

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

Denis Burgarella

Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Marseille

Sean Carey

California Institute of Technology (Caltech)

R. Carter

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

J.D. Chi

Northrop Grumman corporation

A. Cooray

University of California at Irvine (UCI)

James A. Corsetti

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

T. D'Asto

ATA Aerospace Civil

Elvire de Beck

Chalmers, Space, Earth and Environment, Astronomy and Plasmaphysics

K.S. Denis

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

C. Derkacz

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

L. Dewell

Lockheed Martin Corporation

M. Dipirro

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

C.P. Earle

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

M. East

Harris Corporation

S. Edgington

Lockheed Martin Corporation

Kimberly Ennico

LLC

L. Fantano

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

G. Feller

Lockheed Martin Corporation

A. Flores

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

D. Folta

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

Jonathan J. Fortney

Orbital ATK

B.J. Gavares

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

J. Generie

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

M. Gerin

LLC

Z. Granger

Lockheed Martin Corporation

T. P. Greene

University of California

A. Griffiths

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

G. Harpole

Northrop Grumman corporation

K. Harvey

Harris Corporation

F. Helmich

University of Nottingham

G. Helou

Netherlands Institute for Space Research (SRON)

L. Hilliard

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

J. Howard

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

M. Jacoby

Lockheed Martin Corporation

A. Jamil

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

T. Jamison

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

L. Kaltenegger

Cornell University

Tiffany Kataria

Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology

J.S. Knight

Ball Aerospace

P. Knollenberg

Northrop Grumman corporation

Charles R. Lawrence

Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology

P. Lightsey

Johns Hopkins University

S. Lipscy

Johns Hopkins University

C. Lynch

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

Eric E. Mamajek

Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology

G. Martins

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

J.C. Mather

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

Margaret Meixner

Johns Hopkins University

G. J. Melnick

Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

S. Milam

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

T. Mooney

Harris Corporation

Samuel Harvey Moseley

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

D. Narayanan

University of Florida

Susan G. Neff

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

T. Nguyen

Northrop Grumman corporation

A. Nordt

Lockheed Martin Corporation

J. Olson

Lockheed Martin Corporation

Deborah Padgett

Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology

M. B. Petach

Northrop Grumman corporation

S. Petro

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

J. Pohner

Northrop Grumman corporation

Klaus Pontoppidan

Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI)

Alexandra Pope

University of Massachusetts

D. Ramspacher

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

A. Rao

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

G. H. Rieke

University of Arizona

M. Rieke

University of Arizona

Thomas Roellig

LLC

Itsuki Sakon

University of Tokyo

C. Sandin

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

Karin Sandstrom

University of California

D. Scott

University of British Columbia (UBC)

L. Seals

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

K. Sheth

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Johannes Staguhn

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

J. Steeves

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

Kevin B. Stevenson

Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Marseille

L. Stokowski

Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI)

E. Stoneking

Lockheed Martin Corporation

K. Su

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

K. Tajdaran

Lockheed Martin Corporation

S. Tompkins

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

J. Turner

University of California

Joaquin Vieira

University of Illinois

C. Webster

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

M.C. Wiedner

Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS)

Edward Wright

University of California

C. Wu

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

Jonas Zmuidzinas

California Institute of Technology (Caltech)

Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering

0277786X (ISSN) 1996756X (eISSN)

Vol. 11115 111150Q

UV/Optical/IR Space Telescopes and Instruments: Innovative Technologies and Concepts IX 2019
San Diego, USA,

Subject Categories

Accelerator Physics and Instrumentation

Astronomy, Astrophysics and Cosmology

Other Electrical Engineering, Electronic Engineering, Information Engineering

DOI

10.1117/12.2530514

More information

Latest update

1/29/2021