Origins Space Telescope: Baseline mission concept
Journal article, 2021
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 (IR) wavelengths and offer powerful spectroscopic instruments and sensitivity three orders of magnitude better than that of the Herschel Space Observatory, the largest telescope flown in space to date. We describe the baseline concept for Origins recommended to the 2020 US Decadal Survey in Astronomy and Astrophysics. The baseline design includes a 5.9-m diameter telescope cryocooled to 4.5 K and equipped with three scientific instruments. A mid-infrared instrument (Mid-Infrared Spectrometer and Camera Transit spectrometer) will measure the spectra of transiting exoplanets in the 2.8 to 20 μm wavelength range and offer unprecedented spectrophotometric precision, enabling definitive exoplanet biosignature detections. The far-IR imager polarimeter will be able to survey thousands of square degrees with broadband imaging at 50 and 250 μm. The Origins Survey Spectrometer will cover wavelengths from 25 to 588 μm, making 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 architecture is similar to that of the Spitzer Space Telescope and requires very few deployments after launch, while the cryothermal system design leverages James Webb Space Telescope technology and experience. A combination of current-state-of-the-art cryocoolers and next-generation detector technology will enable Origins' natural background-limited sensitivity.
spectroscopy
biosignatures
planet formation
space telescope
cryogenic
galaxy evolution
infrared
Author
David Leisawitz
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
E. Amatucci
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
L. Allen
L3HARRIS TECHNOLOGIES
J. Arenberg
Northrop Grumman corporation
Lee Armus
California Institute of Technology (Caltech)
C. Battersby
University of Connecticut
James Bauer
University of Maryland
Bobby G. Beaman
Science Systems and Applications, Inc.
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
R. Bell
Lockheed Martin Corporation
P. Beltran
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Dominic Benford
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
Edward 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
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Elvire de Beck
Chalmers, Space, Earth and Environment, Astronomy and Plasmaphysics
K. Denis
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
C. Derkacz
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
LLC
L. Dewell
Lockheed Martin Corporation
M. Dipirro
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
C.P. Earle
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
University of Maryland
M. East
L3HARRIS TECHNOLOGIES
Samantha Edgington
Lockheed Martin Corporation
Kimberly Ennico
NASA Ames Research Center
L. Fantano
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
G. Feller
Coherent
D. Folta
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Jonathan J. Fortney
University of California
B.J. Gavares
Orbital ATK
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
J. Generie
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
M. Gerin
Pierre and Marie Curie University (UPMC)
Z. Granger
Lockheed Martin Corporation
T. P. Greene
NASA Ames Research Center
Alex Griffiths
University of Nottingham
George Harpole
Northrop Grumman corporation
K. Harvey
L3HARRIS TECHNOLOGIES
F. Helmich
University of Groningen
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
Ball Aerospace
S. Lipscy
Ball Aerospace
Eric E. Mamajek
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology
G. Martins
ATA Aerospace Civil
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
John C. Mather
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Margaret Meixner
Universities Space Research Association
G. J. Melnick
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
S. Milam
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
T. Mooney
L3HARRIS TECHNOLOGIES
Samuel Harvey Moseley
Quantum Circuits, Inc.
D. Narayanan
University of Florida
Susan G. Neff
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Thanh 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
Daniel Ramspacker
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
A. Rao
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Thomas Roellig
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology
Itsuki Sakon
University of Tokyo
Carly Sandin
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Karin Sandstrom
University of California
D. Scott
University of British Columbia (UBC)
Len Seals
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Kartik Sheth
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
Lawrence M. Sokolsky
Lockheed Martin Corporation
Johannes Staguhn
Johns Hopkins University
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
J. Steeves
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology
Kevin B. Stevenson
Johns Hopkins University
E. Stoneking
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
K. Y. L. Su
University of Arizona
K. Tajdaran
Lockheed Martin Corporation
S. Tompkins
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Joaquin Vieira
University of Illinois
C. Webster
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
M.C. Wiedner
Pierre and Marie Curie University (UPMC)
Edward Wright
University of California
Chi Wu
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Jonas Zmuidzinas
California Institute of Technology (Caltech)
Journal of Astronomical Telescopes, Instruments, and Systems
2329-4124 (ISSN) 2329-4221 (eISSN)
Vol. 7 1 011002Subject Categories
Astronomy, Astrophysics and Cosmology
DOI
10.1117/1.JATIS.7.1.011002