Cornell University
Library
Cornell UniversityLibrary

eCommons

Help
Log In(current)
  1. Home
  2. Cornell University Graduate School
  3. Cornell Theses and Dissertations
  4. OBSERVATION SCHEDULING FOR EXOPLANET IMAGING MISSION WITH TWO STARSHADES

OBSERVATION SCHEDULING FOR EXOPLANET IMAGING MISSION WITH TWO STARSHADES

File(s)
Kelkar_cornell_0058O_12159.pdf (1.12 MB)
Permanent Link(s)
https://doi.org/10.7298/8sv1-ad90
https://hdl.handle.net/1813/116288
Collections
Cornell Theses and Dissertations
Author
Kelkar, Sachin
Abstract

Based on the 2021 Decadal Survey, NASA is planning to launch a space-based observatory dedicated to Exoplanet science. This observatory will accompany a starlight-occulting spacecraft also known as starshade which will be actively controlled to fly in the line of sight (LOS) of observatory and the target star. To make an observation, the starshade has to slew between the LOS of 2 different targets while the observatory reorients and settles to the next target position for making observation. The slew time is very large compared to the observatory's settling time. To increase the efficiency of a mission and reduce the idle time between observations, we propose a mission concept involving 2 starshades. While one starshade is making observation, the second one slews to the next target. To make this possible, at a given time, the next 2 target stars should be known. This research tries to accomplish the observation scheduling algorithm for such missions. This research makes the use and contributes to the workflow of the Open Source Exoplanet Imaging Mission Simulator (EXOSIMS) and its built-in functionalities. By comparing the number of average planet detections made in an ensemble of simulations using this scheduling algorithm and a random target selecting algorithm, we demonstrate the feasibility of this research. Furthermore, we also show that this scheduling algorithm also generates more detections as compared to a single starshade mission consisting similar mission parameters.

Description
58 pages
Date Issued
2024-08
Committee Chair
Savransky, Dmitry
Committee Member
Peck, Mason
Degree Discipline
Mechanical Engineering
Degree Name
M.S., Mechanical Engineering
Degree Level
Master of Science
Rights
Attribution 4.0 International
Rights URI
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Type
dissertation or thesis
Link(s) to Catalog Record
https://newcatalog.library.cornell.edu/catalog/16611762

Site Statistics | Help

About eCommons | Policies | Terms of use | Contact Us

copyright © 2002-2026 Cornell University Library | Privacy | Web Accessibility Assistance