NASASpaceFlight.com Forum
Robotic Spacecraft (Astronomy, Planetary, Earth, Solar/Heliophysics) => Space Science Coverage => Topic started by: RotoSequence on 09/02/2019 01:18 am
-
LUVOIR is the next proposed great space telescope, designed to peer deeper into cosmic history than ever before, with the resolving power necessary to image and characterize potential life-bearing exoplanets. The final mission proposal report has now been released.
https://asd.gsfc.nasa.gov/luvoir/
The Large UV/Optical/IR Surveyor (LUVOIR) is a concept for a highly capable, multi-wavelength space observatory with ambitious science goals. This mission would enable great leaps forward in a broad range of science, from the epoch of reionization, through galaxy formation and evolution, star and planet formation, to solar system remote sensing. LUVOIR also has the major goal of characterizing a wide range of exoplanets, including those that might be habitable - or even inhabited.
LUVOIR is one of four Decadal Survey Mission Concept Studies initiated in Jan 2016. The study will extend over three years and will be executed by the Goddard Space Flight Center, under the leadership of a Science and Technology Definition Team (STDT) drawn from the community.
Final Report (108 Megabyte PDF) (https://asd.gsfc.nasa.gov/luvoir/resources/docs/LUVOIR_FinalReport_2019-08-26.pdf)
https://twitter.com/luvoirtelescope/status/1166095545544450048
-
Now, this would be the Hubble successor, not the Webb.
-
Cross-referencing some basic stats from another thread:
For reference (from the report):
LUVOIR-A current best estimate of mass - 27,800 kg
LUVOIR-A maximum expected mass - 37,400 kg
LUVOIR-A maximum permissible mass - 44,300 kg
LUVOIR-B current best estimate of mass - 15,100 kg
LUVOIR-B maximum expected mass - 21,000 kg
LUVOIR-B maximum permissible mass - 37,000 kg
LUVOIR requires a C3 between -0.55 and -0.75
Cost estimates, assuming $670M of Pre-Phase A Development is completed as suggested from 2020-2025:
LUVOIR-A: $13-16 Billion
LUVOIR-B: $8-12 Billion
-
I’m calling it now. LUVOIR is NOT going to be prioritized by the upcoming decadal survey.
Considering the numerous delays and cost overruns that JWST suffered over the last decade, I think it is time for GSFC to take a brake from being awarded such monumental projects because they proved time and time again that they lack the management skills required for such endeavors.
The best case scenario is that this telescope would cost AT LEAST as much as the James Webb and launch in 2039. I don’t think congress is willing to shell another $500mil-$1B on an yearly basis for a spacecraft that takes almost two decades of development to reach the launchpad. Forget about it, there are way to many variables in the economy or politics over such a long period of time for such a program to be worth the risk.
Yes, it would do jaw-dropping science and I’ve rooted for such an observatory since I first read about the ATLAST concept back in 2010 but I think the gap between the inevitable decommissioning of Hubble and LUVOIR would be to long.
At this point I think the most likely outcome of the upcoming decadal survey is that HabEx will be prioritized. I wasn’t able to find cost estimates for the other flagship observatories being proposed as of yet, but I think it is likely that for the cost of LUVOIR, NASA could fund both HabEx and a descoped Origins/Lynx if such levels of founding would (miraculously) be provided by congress.
-
Compared to either Hubble or Webb, what would LUVOIR's operating temperature be?
I know for Webb's heavy infrared science it has to be cooled roughly to 50 Kelvin. I'm curious how temperature limits what range a telescope can see into the infrared (kinda obvious, but curious on the specifics).
-
Compared to either Hubble or Webb, what would LUVOIR's operating temperature be?
I know for Webb's heavy infrared science it has to be cooled roughly to 50 Kelvin. I'm curious how temperature limits what range a telescope can see into the infrared (kinda obvious, but curious on the specifics).
LUVOIR operating temperature is designed to be 270 K = -3 C = 26 F
"The Large UV/Optical/Infrared Surveyor Decadal Mission Concept Thermal System Architecture"
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/20190027177/downloads/20190027177.pdf
Hubble operates at 294 K = 21 C = 70 F
https://www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/hubble-space-telescope-optics-system
*edit* added citations
-
Any date for the selection of the next telescope?
-
Any date for the selection of the next telescope?
Early/mid 2030s after a lot of technology development and the next astrophysics decadal survey
-
Some LUVOIR reading from 2015 till today, roughly chronological order. Via
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search?q=LUVOIR
and more at
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search?keyword=LUVOIR
SLS Launched Missions Concept Studies for LUVOIR Mission
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/20150018127
Technology Development for the Advanced Technology Large Aperture Space Telescope (ATLAST) as a Candidate Large UV-Optical-Infrared (LUVOIR) Surveyor
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/20150021062
LUVOIR Tech Notes
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/20160011356
Initial Technology Assessment for the Large UV-Optical-Infrared (LUVOIR) Mission Concept Study
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/20160007978
Initial Technology Assessment for the Large-Aperture UV-Optical-Infrared (LUVOIR) Mission Concept Study
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/20160007977
The LUVOIR Mission Concept: Update and Technology Overview
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/20160013265
The LUVOIR Surveyor: Design Update and Technology Needs
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/20170011359
The Large UV/Optical/Infrared Surveyor (LUVOIR): Decadal Mission Concept Technology Development Overview
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/20180001917
The Large UV/Optical/Infrared Surveyor (LUVOIR): Decadal Mission Concept Design Update
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/20180003545
Optical Design and Status of the Large Ultra-Violet Optical Infrared Surveyor (LUVOIR)
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/20180003981
The LUVOIR Surveyor: Decadal Mission Concept Update
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/20180005472
The LUVOIR Decadal Mission Concept: Technology Needs
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/20180007617
The Large UV/Optical/Infrared Surveyor (LUVOIR): Decadal Mission Study Update
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/20180006451
Preliminary Jitter Stability Results for the Large UV/Optical/Infrared (LUVOIR) Surveyor Concept Using a Non-Contact Vibration Isolation and Precision Pointing System
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/20180007773
Breaking the Cost Curve: Applying Lessons Learned from the James Webb Space Telescope Development to Build More Cost-Effective Large Space Telescopes in the Future
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/20180003980
The Large UV/Optical/Infrared Surveyor (LUVOIR): Decadal Mission Concept Study Update
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/20190001456
The Large UV/Optical/Infrared Surveyor (LUVOIR): Decadal Mission Concept Study Update
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/20190001458
Optical Budgeting for LUVOIR
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/20190001893
The Large Ultraviolet/Optical/Infrared Surveyor
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/20190002450
The LUVOIR Concepts
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/20190025906
The Large UV/Optical/Infrared Surveyor Decadal Mission Concept Thermal System Architecture
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/20190027177
The Large UV/Optical/Infrared Surveyor Decadal Mission Concept Thermal System Architecture
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/20190027178
Optical Instrument Thermal Control on the Large Ultraviolet/Optical/Infrared Surveyor
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/20190028878
Optical Instrument Thermal Control on the Large Ultraviolet/Optical/Infrared Surveyor
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/20190029047
LUVOIR: Engineering Design & Technology Overview
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/20190029639
Overview of the Optomechanical Design of the LUVOIR Instruments
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/20190030689
Evolving Management Strategies to Improve NASA Flagship's Cost and Schedule Performance: LUVOIR as a Case Study
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/20190029091
Overview of the Optomechanical Design of the LUVOIR Instrument
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/20190029638
Large UV/Optical/Infrared Surveyor: Telling the Story of Life in the Universe. Exoplanet Transmission Spectroscopy with LUVOIR
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/20190029430
The Large UV/Optical/Infrared Surveyor (LUVOIR): Decadal Mission Study Update
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/20210010887
The LUVOIR Extreme Coronagraph for Living Planetary Systems (ECLIPS) I: Searching and Characterizing Exoplanetary Gems
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/20210012702
Computational Needs for Future Direct Imaging Exoplanet Mission Concepts
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/20210018979
Model Validation of Phase-Induced Amplitude Apodization Complex Mask Coronagraph for LUVOIR-A in Vacuum
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/20210019822
Modeling and Performance Analysis of the LUVOIR Coronagraph Instrument
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/20230006860