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SI - The Stellar Imager

A UV/Optical deep-space telescope to image stars and
observe the Universe with 0.1 milli-arcsec resolution
Artist's Concept of One Possible Stellar Imager Architecture (21 "mirrorsats" directing light to a central hub)

Its mission:

To enable an understanding of solar/stellar magnetic activity and its impact on the:

  • origin and continued existence of life in the Universe
  • structure and evolution of stars
  • habitability of planets

and to study magnetic processes and their roles in the origin and evolution of structure and the transport of matter throughout the Universe


SI Vision Mission Study Final Report (15 September 2005)

  Quick Facts and Executive Summary Pages (1 MB PDF, 16 pages)
Summary Poster (Jan. 2006 AAS meeting)  (3 MB PDF, 1 page)
Full Report  (8.6 MB PDF, 274 pages)


Technology Development Efforts for SI
(Closed-loop optical control of a many-element sparse array in the GSFC Fizeau Interferometer Testbed (FIT);
Precision Formation Flying in the GSFC/MSFC/MIT Synthetic Imaging Formation Flying Testbed (FFTB)
and in the GSFC Formation Flying Testbed (FFTB))

 "Steps Toward a UV/Optical Interferometer in Space: 
                      FIT, SIFFT, FFTB" (AAS, Jan. 2007)
(0.5 MB PDF, poster)

Fizeau Interferometry Testbed (FIT) Summary Slides (IAU Sym. 219) (1.5 MB PDF, 12 pages)


SI Publications (PDF format, optimized for printing):

The Stellar Imager Brochure (20 MB, 6 pages)
"The Stellar Imager (SI) Mission Concept", Carpenter et al., in Proceedings SPIE meeting in Waikoloa, Hawaii , August 2002
"Metrology and Pointing for Astronomical Interferometers", Phillips et al. , in Proceedings SPIE meeting in Glasgow, Scotland, June 2004
"The Stellar Imager (SI):  A Revolutionary Large-Baseline Imaging Interferometer at the Sun-Earth L2 Point", Carpenter et al.,
  in Proceedings SPIE meeting in Glasgow, Scotland, June 2004
"The Stellar Imager (SI) Vision Mission",  Carpenter et al., in Proceedings SPIE meeting in Orlando, FL, May 2006
"Dynamos, Asteroseismology, and the Stellar Imager",  Schrijver et al., in Comm. in Asteroseismology, Vol. 148, 2006
"The Stellar Imager (SI) - A Mission to Resolve Stellar Surfaces, Interiors, and Magnetic Activity",  Carpenter et al.,
  in ASP Proceedings of the   "Biggest, Baddest, Coolest Stars Conference", held in Johnson City, TN, May 2007 (preprint)

"Direct UV/Optical Imaging of Stellar Surfaces:  The Stellar Imager (SI) Vision Mission",  Carpenter et al., in Proceedings
  of SPIE meeting in San Diego, CA, August, 2007

"The Stellar Imager (SI) Project:  A Deep Space UV/Optical Interferometer (UVOI) to Observe the Universe at 0.1 Milli-arcsec
  Angular Resolution",  Carpenter et al., to be published in Ap & Sp. Sci., Proceedings of the NUVA Conf., El Escorial, Spain, June, 2007


FIT Publications (PDF format, optimized for printing):

"The Fizeau Interferometer Testbed", Zhang et al., in Proceedings IEEE Aerospace Conference 2003, in Big Sky, Montana
"Building the Fizeau Interferometry Testbed", Lyon et al., in Proceedings IEEE Aerospace Conference 2004, in Big Sky, Montana
"The Fizeau Interferometry Testbed (FIT):  Developing and Testing the Technologies Needed for Space-Based Interferometric Systems",
     Mazzuca et al., in Proceedings SPIE meeting in Glasgow, Scotland, June, 2004
"Fabrication and Characterization of The Fizeau Interferometer Testbed", Petrone et al., in Proceedings of SPIE meeting in Glasgow, Scotland, June, 2004
"Fizeau Interferometry Testbed:  Wavefront Control", Lyon et al., in Proceedings of SPIE meeting in Glasgow, Scotland, June, 2004
"Wavefront Sensing and Closed-Loop Control for the Fizeau Interferometry Testbed", Lyon et al., in Proceedings of SPIE meeting
   in San Diego, CA, August, 2007

SI Presentations (PDF format, available in PPT format upon request):

Initial Presentation to GSFC and NASA-HQ in March, 2000
Poster presented at the June, 2000 AAS Meeting in Rochester, NY
Poster presented at the September, 2000 NEVEC Interferometry Summer School in Leiden, The Netherlands
Presentation at NASA HQ Lunchtime Seminar on 10/18/00:  "Understanding the Stellar Dynamo,
     Solar/Stellar Variations, and Their Impact on Life and the Habitability of Planets:  The Science of the Stellar Imager"
Poster presented at January 2001 AAS Meeting in San Diego, CA
Presentation at 36th Liege Astrophysical Colloquium (July 2001)
Poster presented at the 12th Cool Stars Workshop in Boulder, CO (August 2001)
Presentation (28 pages) at the Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, MA (March 2002
Poster (15 pages) presented at the Hubble Science Legacy Meeting in Chicago, IL (April 2002)
Presentation (17 pages) at the SPIE meeting in Waikoloa, Hawaii (August 2002)
Presentation (19 pages) at the Space Technology 9 New Millenium Workshop (February 2003)
Presentation (13 pages) at the SPIE meeting in Glasgow, Scotland (June 2004)
Presentation (34 pages) to the Origins/SEU Advisory Sub-Committees in College Park, MD (November, 2004)
Presentation (28 pages) to the Universe Roadmap Committee in Greenbelt, MD (March, 2005)
Presentation (42 pages) to MSFC (July, 2005)
Presentation (20 pages) at the SPIE meeting in Orlando, FL (May 2006)

Related Links:

 The Submilliter Probe of the Evolution of Cosmic Structure (SPECS) Mission
 The MicroArcsecond X-ray Imaging Mission (MAXIM)
 The Space Interferometry Mission (SIM)
 The Terrestrial Planet Finder (TPF) Mission
  Optical Long-Baseline Interferometry News
  Other Interferometry Resources

  Links to Information on Cool Stars and Stellar Activity
 

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Links for SI and FIT Development Teams (Restricted Access)

VSDE Web Portal for SI and FIT
 
 

Curator:
K. Carpenter
Code 667 NASA-GSFC
Greenbelt, MD 20771
email:  Kenneth.G.Carpenter@nasa.gov
homepage:   http://eud.gsfc.nasa.gov/Kenneth.Carpenter/


 


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NASA Official: Phil Newman
Last Updated: Thursday, 13-Dec-2007 17:58:35 EST