DARWIN system concepts

Oswald Wallner; Klaus Ergenzinger; Reinhold Flatscher; Ulrich Johann

doi:10.1117/12.2308039

21 November 2017 DARWIN system concepts

Oswald Wallner, Klaus Ergenzinger, Reinhold Flatscher, Ulrich Johann

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Proceedings Volume 10567, International Conference on Space Optics — ICSO 2006; 105670I (2017) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2308039
Event: International Conference on Space Optics 2006, 2006, Noordwijk, Netherlands

Abstract

The European DARWIN mission aims at the detection of Earth-like exo-planets and at the spectroscopic characterization of their atmospheres. By nulling interferometry in the mid-infrared wavelength regime the stellar flux may be rejected. By spatial and temporal modulation of the interferometer’s receive characteristic the planet signal may be extracted from the background signals. The DARWIN instrument consists of a flotilla of free-flying spacecraft, three to four spacecraft carrying the collector telescopes and one spacecraft carrying the control units and the beam recombination and detection unit. We present different system design concepts for the DARWIN instrument which have been elaborated within the DARWIN System Assessment Study. We discuss various aperture configurations and beam routing schemes as well as modulation methods and and beam recombination schemes.

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Oswald Wallner, Klaus Ergenzinger, Reinhold Flatscher, and Ulrich Johann "DARWIN system concepts", Proc. SPIE 10567, International Conference on Space Optics — ICSO 2006, 105670I (21 November 2017); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2308039

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