Related papers: Breakthrough capability for the NASA Astrophysics …
The {\em Solar Orbiter} is the next solar physics mission of the European Space Agency, ESA, in collaboration with NASA, with a launch planned in 2018. The spacecraft is designed to approach the Sun to within 0.28\,AU at perihelion of a…
Astrophysics facilities have been of tremendous importance for planetary science. The flagship space observatory Hubble Space Telescope has produced ground-breaking Solar System science, but when launched it did not even have the capability…
The ability to launch small secondary payloads to Mars on future science missions present an exciting opportunity for demonstration of advanced technologies for planetary exploration such as aerocapture. Over the years, several aerocapture…
Solar energetic particles (SEPs) in the energy range 10s KeV/nucleon-100s MeV/nucleon originate from Sun. Their high flux near Earth may damage the space borne electronics and generate secondary radiations harmful for the life on Earth and…
We are designing and constructing a new SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) instrument to search for direct evidence of interstellar communications via pulsed laser signals at near-infrared wavelengths. The new instrument design…
The ESO Slice Project (ESP) is a galaxy redshift survey we have recently completed as an ESO Key-Project. The ESP covers 23.3 square degrees in a region close to the South Galactic Pole. The survey is nearly complete (85%) to the limiting…
Challenging space mission scenarios include those in low altitude orbits, where the atmosphere creates significant drag to the S/C and forces their orbit to an early decay. For drag compensation, propulsion systems are needed, requiring…
The Maunakea Spectroscopic Explorer (MSE) will each year obtain millions of spectra in the optical to near-infrared, at low (R~3000) to high (R~40000) spectral resolution by observing >3000 spectra per pointing via a highly multiplexed…
Recent investigations have demonstrated the potential for utilizing a new observational and data analysis technique for studying the atmospheres of non-transiting exoplanets with combined light that relies on acquiring simultaneous,…
(Abridged) The ESO Slice Project (ESP) is a galaxy redshift survey we have completed as an ESO Key-Project over ~23 square degrees, in a region near the South Galactic Pole. The survey is nearly complete to the limiting magnitude b_J=19.4…
Euclid is a space-based optical/near-infrared survey mission of the European Space Agency (ESA) to investigate the nature of dark energy, dark matter and gravity by observing the geometry of the Universe and on the formation of structures…
Observing ultra-high energy cosmic rays (UHECR) and very high energy (VHE) neutrinos from space is a promising way to measure their extremely low fluxes by significantly increasing the observed volume. The Extreme Universe Space Observatory…
This white paper presents an analysis of Astro2020 science priorities and NASA's future astrophysics mission architecture, advocating for a coordinated fleet of \$1--2B missions, smaller than typical Flagship observatories, but…
For the past 400 years, astronomers have sought to observe and interpret the Universe by building more powerful telescopes. These incredible instruments extend the capabilities of one of our most important senses, sight, towards new limits…
The Search for Extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) is a scientific and cultural effort seeking evidence of intelligent life beyond earth. Radio SETI observes the radio spectrum for ''technosignatures" that could be produced by an advanced…
The search of life in the Universe is a fundamental problem of astrobiology and a major priority for NASA. A key area of major progress since the NASA Astrobiology Strategy 2015 (NAS15) has been a shift from the exoplanet discovery phase to…
With advancements in low-cost launchers and small interplanetary spacecraft, NASA has recognized the potential of small missions to perform focused planetary science investigations at Mars and Venus. The EscaPADE, part of the NASA SIMPLEx…
Ground-based telescopes coupled with adaptive optics (AO) have been playing a leading role in exoplanet direct imaging science and technological development for the past two decades and will continue to have an indispensable role for the…
The SuperNova/Acceleration Probe (SNAP) will measure precisely the cosmological expansion history over both the acceleration and deceleration epochs and thereby constrain the nature of the dark energy that dominates our universe today. The…
Some tests of fundamental physics - the equation of state at supra-nuclear densities, the metric in strong gravity, the effect of magnetic fields above the quantum critical value - can only be measured using compact astrophysical objects:…