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Starshade Design for Occulter Based Exoplanet MissionsWe present a lightweight starshade design that delivers the requisite profile figure accuracy with a compact stowed volume that permits launching both the occulter system (starshade and spacecraft) and a 1 to 2m-class telescope system on a single existing launch vehicle. Optimal figure stability is achieved with a very stiff and mass-efficient deployable structure design that has a novel configuration. The reference design is matched to a 1.1m telescope and consists of a 15m diameter inner disc and 24 flower-like petals with 7.5m length. The total tip-to-tip diameter of 30m provides an inner working angle of 75 mas. The design is scalable to accommodate larger telescopes and several options have been assessed. A proof of concept petal is now in production at JPL for deployment demonstrations and as a testbed for developing additional elements of the design. Future plans include developing breadboard and prototype hardware of increasing fidelity for use in demonstrating critical performance capabilities such as deployed optical edge profile figure tolerances and stability thereof.
Document ID
20150008530
Acquisition Source
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Document Type
Conference Paper
External Source(s)
Authors
Thomson, Mark W.
(Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Lisman, P. Douglas
(Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Helms, Richard
(Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Walkemeyer, Phil
(Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Kissil, Andrew
(Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Polanco, Otto
(Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Lee, Siu-Chun
(Applied Sciences Laboratory, Inc. Baldwin Park, CA, United States)
Date Acquired
May 20, 2015
Publication Date
June 27, 2010
Subject Category
Spacecraft Design, Testing And Performance
Meeting Information
Meeting: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes and Instrumentation
Location: San Diego, CA
Country: United States
Start Date: June 27, 2010
End Date: July 1, 2010
Sponsors: International Society for Optical Engineering
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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