Jump to content

Extreme-ultraviolet Stellar Characterization for Atmospheric Physics and Evolution

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Extreme-ultraviolet Stellar Characterization for Atmospheric Physics and Evolution
Render of ESCAPE spacecraft
NamesESCAPE
Mission typeStellar activity
Exoplanet habitability
Astronomy
OperatorNASA
Websiteescapetelescope.org
lasp.colorado.edu/home/cusp/escape/
Mission duration2 years (design)
Spacecraft properties
BusBall Configurable Platform (BCP)
ManufacturerBall Aerospace
Launch mass245 kg (540 lb)
Dry mass245 kg (540 lb)
Dimensions2.57 m × 2.09 m × 1.10 m (8.4 ft × 6.9 ft × 3.6 ft)
Power256 W
Start of mission
Launch date2025
Orbital parameters
Reference systemLow Earth Orbit
Main telescope
TypeGregorian telescope, grazing incidence
Diameter0.46 m (1.5 ft)
Wavelengths80 Å to 825 Å (EUV)
1280 Å to 1650 Å (FUV)

ESCAPE mission logo
← EUVE

The Extreme-ultraviolet Stellar Characterization for Atmospheric Physics and Evolution (ESCAPE) mission aims to find environments beyond Earth's solar system that might host planets with thick atmospheres to support life.[1]

The long-term stability of exoplanetary atmospheres depends critically on the extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) flux from the host star. The EUV flux likely drives the demographics of the short-period planet population as well the ability for rocky planets to maintain habitable environments long enough for the emergence of life. ESCAPE is an astrophysics Small Explorer proposed to NASA that employs extreme- and far-ultraviolet spectroscopy (80 – 1650 Å) to characterize the high-energy radiation environment in the habitable zones (HZs) around nearby stars.

Mission objective

[edit]

ESCAPE provides the first comprehensive study of the stellar EUV environments that control atmospheric mass-loss and determine the habitability of rocky exoplanets. ESCAPE's prime mission is driven by two spectroscopic surveys: 1) a broad survey of EUV and FUV flux from 200 nearby (d < 100 pc) F, G, K, and M stars, providing direct input into atmospheric evolution models. The mission targets stars with a range of ages and activity levels, and places an emphasis on stars with known exoplanets. 2) A deep monitoring survey (~2 weeks per star) of 24 targets-of-interest to measure the stellar flare frequency distribution and constrain the coronal mass ejection (CME) rate and high-energy particle fluence from these objects. Together, these surveys provide the crucial stellar drivers that regulate habitable environments on planets targeted by upcoming atmospheric characterization missions, from James Webb Space Telescope to Large Ultraviolet Optical Infrared Surveyor.

Stellar light drives planetary upper atmospheric chemistry and escape

Science instrument

[edit]

The ESCAPE Hettrick-Bowyer telescope comprises a grazing-incidence mirror that focus ultraviolet light through a spectral filter, where a secondary mirror module directs light to a set of grazing-incidence gratings and a set of normal-incidence gratings that disperse light as spectra onto the microchannel plate detector. This ultimately results in spectra ranging from 80 Å to 825 Å (EUV) and from 1280 Å to 1650 Å (FUV) with 1 Å resolution. Once downlinked and processed, these measurements will be accessible on Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes (MAST).

Construction

[edit]

ESCAPE is being designed and built by several institutions, led by Principal Investigator Kevin France at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP), a research institute at University of Colorado Boulder.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ The extreme-ultraviolet stellar characterization for atmospheric physics and evolution (ESCAPE) mission concept. SPIE. SPIE. doi:10.1117/12.2526859. hdl:10150/638074. Retrieved 14 August 2020.

As of March 25, 2021, this article is derived in whole or in part from lasp.colorado.edu. The copyright holder has licensed the content in a manner that permits reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 and GFDL. All relevant terms must be followed.

[edit]