[Previous] | [Session 77] | [Next]
I. J. E. Jordan, A. B. Schultz (CSC/STScI), H. M. Hart (CSC/JHU), C.-C. Wu, M. Kochte (CSC/STScI), F. Bruhweiler (IACS/CUA)
The Next Generation Space Telescope (NGST), projected to be launched as early as 2007, has a goal to study the formation of stars and planets. The current slate of NGST instruments does not provide coronagraphic imaging capability. One possible approach to enable NGST to image circumstellar disks and extrasolar planets is to use a self-propelled occulter. Such an approach requires a second spacecraft and modest additional cost. Results of a design study for a minimal occulter using an existing or proposed L2 mission are presented. As a test case, we explore the possibility of using the cancelled Nexus mission as an occulter craft.
Support for this work has been provided by Computer Sciences Corporation, Laurel, MD and by the Space Telescope Science Institute which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under NASA contract NAS 5-26555.
If you would like more information about this abstract, please follow the link to http://www.stsci.edu/~jordan/umbras/. This link was provided by the author. When you follow it, you will leave the Web site for this meeting; to return, you should use the Back comand on your browser.
The author(s) of this abstract have provided an email address for comments about the abstract: jordan@stsci.edu