FIREBall-2: advancing TRL while doing proof-of-concept astrophysics on a suborbital platform

Erika T. Hamden; Keri Hoadley; D. Christopher Martin; David Schiminovich; Bruno Milliard; Shouleh Nikzad; Ramona Augustin; Philippe Balard; Patrick Blanchard; Nicolas Bray; Marty Crabill; Jean Evrard; Albert Gomes; Robert Grange; Julia Gross; April Jewell; Gillian Kyne; Michele Limon; Nicole Lingner; Mateusz Matuszewski; Nicole Melso; Frédéri Mirc; Johan Montel; Hwei Ru Ong; Donal O'Sullivan; Sandrine Pascal; Etienne Perot; Vincent Picouet; Muriel Saccoccio; Brian Smiley; Xavier Soors; Pierre Tapie; Didier Vibert; Isabelle Zenone; Jose Zorrilla

doi:10.1117/12.2518711

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13 May 2019 FIREBall-2: advancing TRL while doing proof-of-concept astrophysics on a suborbital platform

Erika T. Hamden, Keri Hoadley, D. Christopher Martin, David Schiminovich, Bruno Milliard, Shouleh Nikzad, Ramona Augustin, Philippe Balard, Patrick Blanchard, Nicolas Bray, Marty Crabill, Jean Evrard, Albert Gomes, Robert Grange, Julia Gross, April Jewell, Gillian Kyne, Michele Limon, Nicole Lingner, Mateusz Matuszewski, Nicole Melso, Frédéri Mirc, Johan Montel, Hwei Ru Ong, Donal O'Sullivan, Sandrine Pascal, Etienne Perot, Vincent Picouet, Muriel Saccoccio, Brian Smiley, Xavier Soors, Pierre Tapie, Didier Vibert, Isabelle Zenone, Jose Zorrilla

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Proceedings Volume 10982, Micro- and Nanotechnology Sensors, Systems, and Applications XI; 1098220 (2019) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2518711
Event: SPIE Defense + Commercial Sensing, 2019, Baltimore, Maryland, United States

Abstract

Here we discuss advances in UV technology over the last decade, with an emphasis on photon counting, low noise, high eﬃciency detectors in sub-orbital programs. We focus on the use of innovative UV detectors in a NASA astrophysics balloon telescope, FIREBall-2, which successfully ﬂew in the Fall of 2018. The FIREBall-2 telescope is designed to make observations of distant galaxies to understand more about how they evolve by looking for diﬀuse hydrogen in the galactic halo. The payload utilizes a 1.0-meter class telescope with an ultraviolet multi-object spectrograph and is a joint collaboration between Caltech, JPL, LAM, CNES, Columbia, the University of Arizona, and NASA. The improved detector technology that was tested on FIREBall-2 can be applied to any UV mission. We discuss the results of the ﬂight and detector performance. We will also discuss the utility of sub-orbital platforms (both balloon payloads and rockets) for testing new technologies and proof-of-concept scientiﬁc ideas.

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Erika T. Hamden, Keri Hoadley, D. Christopher Martin, David Schiminovich, Bruno Milliard, Shouleh Nikzad, Ramona Augustin, Philippe Balard, Patrick Blanchard, Nicolas Bray, Marty Crabill, Jean Evrard, Albert Gomes, Robert Grange, Julia Gross, April Jewell, Gillian Kyne, Michele Limon, Nicole Lingner, Mateusz Matuszewski, Nicole Melso, Frédéri Mirc, Johan Montel, Hwei Ru Ong, Donal O'Sullivan, Sandrine Pascal, Etienne Perot, Vincent Picouet, Muriel Saccoccio, Brian Smiley, Xavier Soors, Pierre Tapie, Didier Vibert, Isabelle Zenone, and Jose Zorrilla "FIREBall-2: advancing TRL while doing proof-of-concept astrophysics on a suborbital platform", Proc. SPIE 10982, Micro- and Nanotechnology Sensors, Systems, and Applications XI, 1098220 (13 May 2019); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2518711

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