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M. E. Levi (LBNL), SNAP Collaboration
The SuperNova / Acceleration Probe (SNAP) is a space-based experiment to measure the expansion history of the Universe and investigate the properties of the dark energy and dark matter. The SNAP science goals require the control of measurement systematics using high resolution, high signal to noise photometric and spectroscopic observations. These science goals drive the design requirements for the SNAP mission.
The SNAP conceptual design consists of a wide-field (approximately one degree) diffraction limited telescope with a 2-meter primary. Its half-billion-pixel imaging and spectrographic system is comprised of state-of-the-art visible and infrared sensors sharing a large focal plane. SNAP will use thousands of supernovae as cosmic markers of the scale of the universe over time and thus construct a history of the universe's growth.
SNAP has an active ongoing program to developed needed technologies and is in the midst of a formal conceptual design process. We describe the current progress on the mission concept including the survey strategy, operations concept, optics, orbit optimization, and telemetry.
This work is supported by the U.S. Dept. of Energy, Office of Science, under contract DE-AC03-76SF00098.
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Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 34, #4
© 2002. The American Astronomical Soceity.