NASA's Beyond Einstein Program An Architecture for Implementation (2007) / Chapter Skim
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5 Findings and Recommendations
5 Findings and Recommendations
Pages 118-132
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From page 118... ...
assess the Beyond Einstein missions, with the following charge: 1. Assess the five proposed Beyond Einstein missions (Constellation-X, Laser Interferometer Space Antenna, Joint Dark Energy Mission, Inflation Probe, and Black Hole Finder Probe)
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From page 119... ...
Therefore, the committee responds to the task in the conviction that it is recommending the first element of an enduring program, and not the only and last mission in Beyond Einstein science. How the Recommendations Evolved The committee started with systematic consideration of each of the 11 mission candidates identified thus far in the five mission areas in the Beyond Einstein Program.
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From page 120... ...
Chapter 3 contains the committee's assessment of technical readiness for each of the 11 mission candidates. After the scientific and technical assessments of all five mission areas were completed, two stood out for the directness with which they address Beyond Einstein goals and their potential for broader scientific impact: the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA)
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From page 121... ...
These precursors give the committee confidence that a JDEM mission selected in 2009 could proceed smoothly to a timely and successful launch. Nonetheless, because the field of dark energy is developing rapidly, a request for proposals that is open to a broad range of mission concepts is advisable.
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From page 122... ...
While Con-X can make strong contributions to Beyond Einstein science, other BE missions address the measurement of dark energy parameters and tests of strong-field general relativity in a more focused and definitive manner. Finding 3. Two mission areas stand out for the directness with which they address Beyond Einstein goals and their potential for broader scientific impact: LISA and JDEM.
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From page 123... ...
The scientific importance of the remaining three mission areas -- Black Hole Finder Probe, Constellation-X, and Inflation Probe -- was also all assessed by the committee as making an important contribution toward answering the Beyond Einstein questions as well as to other important issues in physics and astronomy. These mission areas warrant funding for technology development between now and the next astronomy and astrophysics decadal survey, although this funding may not fit into the Beyond Einstein funding wedge used in this assessment.
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From page 124... ...
Summaries of Mission Readiness This subsection summarizes the committee's assessment of the scientific and technical readiness to begin development in FY 2009 toward the launch of the missions for each of the Beyond Einstein candidate mission areas: Black Hole Finder Probe, Constellation-X, Inflation Probe, JDEM, and LISA. As discussed below, the committee strongly believes that the future technology investment is required and warranted in all of the Beyond Einstein mission areas.
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From page 125... ...
Black Hole Finder Probe Science Readiness Assessment Summary The Black Hole Finder Probe (BHFP) is one of the three Einstein Probes discussed in the original Beyond Einstein roadmap published in 2003.
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From page 126... ...
The committee notes that the BHFP, as embodied in EXIST, is the only Einstein Probe that was specifically recommended in the 2001 decadal survey report, Astronomy and Astrophysics in the New Millennium. 5-2 The science risk for BHFP is rather high (see the section "Black Hole Finder Probe" in Chapter 2)
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From page 127... ...
Beyond Einstein is not the sole justification for Con-X, as its primary science capabilities support a much broader research program. Inflation Probe Science Readiness Assessment Summary "Inflation," the term for an exponential expansion that, according to the Inflationary Big Bang Model, took place in an early era of the history of the universe, was proposed in order to solve several fundamental problems in cosmology.
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From page 128... ...
Technical Readiness Assessment Summary The CIP concept and mission design is a modification of existing missions. The detectors are very similar to the JWST Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCAM)
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From page 129... ...
Such a result would be a major advance in basic astrophysics and cosmology and would have a broad impact across all of fundamental physics. The goal of the JDEM missions, as presented by the report of the Dark Energy Task Force, is to provide a factor-of-10 increase over the current accuracy of the dark energy ratio w(a)
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From page 130... ...
The SNAP mission team provided significant detail on the mission concept, showed adequate technical margins in all areas, and overall, SNAP was assessed by the committee to have no major challenges to achieving technical readiness. LISA Science Readiness Assessment Summary The science underlying LISA's quest to detect and use gravitational waves is at a high level of readiness, as discussed in Chapter 2.
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From page 131... ...
Therefore, given the scientific importance of LISA, the committee strongly believes that the next highest priority for allocation of the current NASA Beyond Einstein funding wedge after the JDEM start is funding to accelerate the maturation of the technical readiness of these remaining LISA technologies. Areas that are candidates for this funding and shown at TRL levels of 4 or less and discussed in Chapter 3 include micronewton thruster technology development and lifetime tests, the point-ahead actuator, the phase measurement system, and laser frequency noise suppression.
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