REDONDO BEACH, Calif.,
Sept. 1, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --
Northrop Grumman (NYSE: NOC) engineers and astronomers demonstrated
the ability of a petal-shaped starshade to clearly see celestial
objects during two, weeklong series of engineering tests on
Kitt Peak at the McMath-Pierce Solar
Telescope. This was the first time a starshade was tested against
actual astronomical objects.
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The team experimented with three different starshade designs, a
circular shape and two petal-shaped designs. The petal-shaped
designs demonstrated superior performance, allowing the team to
clearly view objects surrounding Jupiter, Saturn, Venus, and the
stars Sirius and Vega.
"The physics of the circular shape have been known for years,"
said Steve Warwick, systems
engineer, test lead, Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems. "We were
amazed at just how effectively the petal-shaped starshade design
canceled the light coming from very bright planets and bright
stars. These tests added considerably to our engineering knowledge
and opened the possibility that the McMath starshade demonstration
can collect scientifically important data that might not be
attainable any other way."
The starshade is a free-flying occulter intended to fly
thousands of kilometers in front of a space telescope and block out
the light of a nearby star, enabling astronomers to directly see
planets surrounding the stars. The technology is specifically
intended to detect Earth-like planets.
The 2.1 meter heliostat mirror at McMath-Pierce is conducive for
starshade research as it provides distance between the starshade
and the imaging telescope while tracking stars and planets to the
accuracies required for long exposure times. McMath-Pierce is
operated by the Association of Universities for Research in
Astronomy, Inc., under a cooperative agreement with the National
Science Foundation.
"Starshade is one of the many innovative and exciting projects
we are developing to advance human discoveries in space," said
Gabe Watson, vice president, sensing
systems Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems. "The opportunity
associated with using a starshade to detect Earth-like planets
around other stars motivates us to pursue this technology.
And we're seeing solid results."
Northrop Grumman has been working on the starshade, associated
engineering and enabling technologies since 2004. The company
performed tests in the Nevada
desert in 2014 and 2015 using an LED as the star source – but the
tests at McMath represent the first substantial times the starshade
was tested against celestial bodies.
Northrop Grumman is a leading global security company providing
innovative systems, products and solutions in unmanned systems,
cyber, C4ISR, and logistics and modernization to government and
commercial customers worldwide. Please visit
www.northropgrumman.com for more information.
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SOURCE Northrop Grumman Corporation