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Astronomers are already preparing for a new era of space exploration.
Leading American astronomers have come to a consensus: the next generation of NASA's great observatories should tap into the potential of new rockets like SpaceX's Starship. Launching the successor to the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) on Starship could free up the mission's strict mass and volume constraints, which typically increase complexity and cost, three astronomers recently told the National Academy of Astronomy and Astrophysics Committee.
"The availability of more mass and volume at a lower price expands the design space," said Charles Lawrence, chief scientist for astronomy and physics at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. "We want to take advantage of this."
Lawrence's presentation focused on the impact of powerful new rockets on future astronomical research. He was joined by Martin Elwes of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and Sarah Seeger, an astrophysicist and planetary scientist at MIT. Lawrence, Elvis, and Seeger wrote an article in Physics Today earlier this year discussing this topic.
Starship's ability to lift more than 100 metric tons into space at a cost significantly lower than existing rockets will change the way the space industry approaches itself. The Starship has a diameter of 9 meters, which is almost twice the width of the useful volume of any existing rocket.
However, astronomers are beginning to seriously plan to use rockets like Starship or Blue Origin's New Glenn, with a slightly smaller 7-meter fairing, to launch the next generation of large space telescopes.
In 2021, the National Academies presented a ten-year overview of the main priorities in astronomy and astrophysics for the US scientific community. In this review, an outstanding group of scientists proposed a roadmap for NASA to develop technologies and projects for the next series of "great observatories"during the 2020s.
NASA's policy is to follow the recommendations of the scientific community. By the end of the decade, NASA is expected to be ready to officially begin developing these new telescopes. The first should be a large telescope called the Habitable Worlds Observatory, which will be comparable in size to Webb and will be equipped with a coronagraph or star screen to observe planets near other stars.
The Habitable Worlds Observatory, which is sensitive to light in the infrared, visible and ultraviolet ranges, will observe Earth-like exoplanets in search of worlds that can support life. Later, NASA should launch similarly ambitious telescopes in the far infrared and X-ray ranges to study the formation of stars, black holes and galaxies, as recommended by scientists in 2021.
Leading American astronomers have come to a consensus: the next generation of NASA's great observatories should tap into the potential of new rockets like SpaceX's Starship. Launching the successor to the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) on Starship could free up the mission's strict mass and volume constraints, which typically increase complexity and cost, three astronomers recently told the National Academy of Astronomy and Astrophysics Committee.
"The availability of more mass and volume at a lower price expands the design space," said Charles Lawrence, chief scientist for astronomy and physics at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. "We want to take advantage of this."
Lawrence's presentation focused on the impact of powerful new rockets on future astronomical research. He was joined by Martin Elwes of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and Sarah Seeger, an astrophysicist and planetary scientist at MIT. Lawrence, Elvis, and Seeger wrote an article in Physics Today earlier this year discussing this topic.
Starship's ability to lift more than 100 metric tons into space at a cost significantly lower than existing rockets will change the way the space industry approaches itself. The Starship has a diameter of 9 meters, which is almost twice the width of the useful volume of any existing rocket.
However, astronomers are beginning to seriously plan to use rockets like Starship or Blue Origin's New Glenn, with a slightly smaller 7-meter fairing, to launch the next generation of large space telescopes.
In 2021, the National Academies presented a ten-year overview of the main priorities in astronomy and astrophysics for the US scientific community. In this review, an outstanding group of scientists proposed a roadmap for NASA to develop technologies and projects for the next series of "great observatories"during the 2020s.
NASA's policy is to follow the recommendations of the scientific community. By the end of the decade, NASA is expected to be ready to officially begin developing these new telescopes. The first should be a large telescope called the Habitable Worlds Observatory, which will be comparable in size to Webb and will be equipped with a coronagraph or star screen to observe planets near other stars.
The Habitable Worlds Observatory, which is sensitive to light in the infrared, visible and ultraviolet ranges, will observe Earth-like exoplanets in search of worlds that can support life. Later, NASA should launch similarly ambitious telescopes in the far infrared and X-ray ranges to study the formation of stars, black holes and galaxies, as recommended by scientists in 2021.
