Advanced Technology Large-Aperture Space Telescope (ATLAST): A Technology Roadmap for the Next Decade
Abstract
The Advanced Technology Large-Aperture Space Telescope (ATLAST) is a set of mission concepts for the next generation of UVOIR space observatory with a primary aperture diameter in the 8-m to 16-m range that will allow us to perform some of the most challenging observations to answer some of our most compelling questions, including "Is there life elsewhere in the Galaxy?" We have identified two different telescope architectures, but with similar optical designs, that span the range in viable technologies. The architectures are a telescope with a monolithic primary mirror and two variations of a telescope with a large segmented primary mirror. This approach provides us with several pathways to realizing the mission, which will be narrowed to one as our technology development progresses. The concepts invoke heritage from HST and JWST design, but also take significant departures from these designs to minimize complexity, mass, or both. Our report provides details on the mission concepts, shows the extraordinary scientific progress they would enable, and describes the most important technology development items. These are the mirrors, the detectors, and the high-contrast imaging technologies, whether internal to the observatory, or using an external occulter. Experience with JWST has shown that determined competitors, motivated by the development contracts and flight opportunities of the new observatory, are capable of achieving huge advances in technical and operational performance while keeping construction costs on the same scale as prior great observatories.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.0904.0941,
title = {Advanced Technology Large-Aperture Space Telescope (ATLAST): A Technology Roadmap for the Next Decade},
author = {Marc Postman and Vic Argabright and Bill Arnold and David Aronstein and Paul Atcheson and Morley Blouke and Tom Brown and Daniela Calzetti and Webster Cash and Mark Clampin and Dave Content and Dean Dailey and Rolf Danner and Rodger Doxsey and Dennis Ebbets and Peter Eisenhardt and Lee Feinberg and Andrew Fruchter and Mauro Giavalisco and Tiffany Glassman and Qian Gong and James Green and John Grunsfeld and Ted Gull and Greg Hickey and Randall Hopkins and John Hraba and Tupper Hyde and Ian Jordan and Jeremy Kasdin and Steve Kendrick and Steve Kilston and Anton Koekemoer and Bob Korechoff and John Krist and John Mather and Chuck Lillie and Amy Lo and Rick Lyon and Peter McCullough and Gary Mosier and Matt Mountain and Bill Oegerle and Bert Pasquale and Lloyd Purves and Cecelia Penera and Ron Polidan and Dave Redding and Kailash Sahu and Babak Saif and Ken Sembach and Mike Shull and Scott Smith and George Sonneborn and David Spergel and Phil Stahl and Karl Stapelfeldt and Harley Thronson and Gary Thronton and Jackie Townsend and Wesley Traub and Steve Unwin and Jeff Valenti and Robert Vanderbei and Michael Werner and Richard Wesenberg and Jennifer Wiseman and Bruce Woodgate},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:0904.0941},
year = {2012}
}
Comments
22 pages, RFI submitted to Astro2010 Decadal Committee