By Denis Laurin (Senior Program Scientist, Space Astronomy, Canadian Space Agency)
(Cassiopeia – Autumn 2021)
denis.laurin@canada.ca
(www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/sciences/astronomy.asp)
This is a brief update from CSA regarding on-going activities and missions in space astronomy.
On-going Missions and Programs
JWST (Jean Dupuis and Luminita Ilinca Ignat)
Final tests were successfully concluded in August on the James Webb Space Telescope and it is being readied for shipment to the launch site. NASA recently announced a new date for the launch, now 18 Dec 2021. The FGS/NIRISS team is taking part in rehearsals in view of JWST launch and for the ensuing commissioning phase. To bring the imaging, high contrast imaging, and spectroscopic capabilities online after launch, a carefully defined and sequenced set of commissioning activities has been developed. These activities, planned over a 6-month period after launch, will confirm instrument functionality, characterize instrument performance (optimizing where possible), obtain initial calibrations to a level required to properly plan observations, and demonstrate critical operational sequences such as target acquisition.
The Cycle 1 Canadian proposals selected by NASA seeking CSA support are under evaluation. An announcement of opportunity for CSA funding of Cycle 1 and ERS proposals was announced during the summer and the review process (including evaluators external to CSA) is ongoing with the goal awarding support for these projects by the end of the fiscal year.
The MOU with NRC to support science operations, as well as support to Université de Montréal, are extended to launch and commissioning and we are preparing renewals for the operations phase.
ASTROSAT (Jean Dupuis)
The CSA will continue to support the Astrosat mission (fiscal year 21/22 and 22/23). As mentioned in a previous newsletter (Dec 2020), the NUV detector of UVIT continues to be unavailable, but the FUV and VIS channels are still performing well. Contact Joe Postma, University of Calgary, for details for UVIT data processing and analysis issues or for assistance in preparation of proposals. Canadian researchers that have obtained observing time during earlier cycles have been awarded grant support from the CSA (contact person for ASTROSAT grants program at CSA is Jean Dupuis). We encourage Astrosat grant recipients to inform CSA of their resulting or upcoming publications, as well as any related media releases.
NEOSSat Guest Observer Program
Cycle 3 of the GO program is extended to October, with a plan to issue the cycle 4 AO soon. There is no grant funding associated with the AOs. All the data is public (on CSA FTP and CADC). A notification will be sent to CASCA members when the cycle 4 is issued. Information about the previous cycle is available here including the list of approved guest observers.
XRISM
XRISM is the JAXA X-Ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission, to be launched in early 2023. CSA contributed to support the tests of the Resolve instrument, an important contribution to the payload by NASA. Dr Luigi Gallo (SWG) at Saint Mary’s University and Dr Brian McNamara (Resolve) at the University of Waterloo are members of the teams. Canadian astronomers will be able to compete for observation time (GO) and to the XGS (commissioning phase) programs through the competitive announcements of opportunity from NASA. The CSA will support successful applicants; details will be provided in future CSA AOs.
BRITE
The CSA has been supporting the operations of the Canadian nanosat (“BRITE-Toronto”) at the University of Toronto Space Flight Laboratory since launch in 2013. The CSA continues to support the operations this current fiscal year, including science support to the science lead at the Royal Military College. Continued support in future years will again require mission extension review.
Investing in the Future
Topical Teams in Space Astronomy
The CSA is considering the formation of Topical Teams in space sciences, similar to the Topical Teams in 2016, including four in space astronomy, in order to identify future objectives and opportunities. Following the publication of the LRP 2020, and the expected release of the US Decadal Plan and the ESA Voyage 2050 now available, the CSA Topical Teams would nominally start early next year; this will be an opportunity for the space community to establish goals for the end of this decade and beyond. The teams would be formed competitively through an RFP. This may be followed by a Canadian Space Exploration Workshop (CSEW) in 2022; the community would be informed and invited should the workshop take place.
Ariel
The Ariel (Atmospheric Remote-sensing Exoplanet Large-survey) mission is ESA’s Cosmic Vision programme medium-class (M4) mission due for launch in 2029. Ariel is a 4-year mission to study exoplanets’ composition, with a 1-m telescope observing in visible and NIR photometric and spectroscopic bands.
Canada was invited by the mission Consortium to make a hardware contribution to the spacecraft. This opportunity requires delivery of a cryo-harness, a space-qualified data cable from the FPA that can operate at cryogenic temperatures. The CSA is currently exploring the feasibility of making such a contribution which will offer in return exciting scientific research opportunities to the community, consistent with the recommendations of the LRP 2020 and the JCSA.
Space Technology Development Program (STDP)
In my Dec 2020 Cassiopeia update, STDP proposals for CASTOR and exoplanet related technologies were being reviewed. Contracts are now in place: 1) CASTOR payload technologies (targeting FPA, telescope, FSM, photometer elements) with prime contractor ABB (Quebec), Honeywell and Magellan ($2,250K). 2) Technologies (including optical design and imagers) related to the POET micro-satellite concept for exoplanet transit observation, by Bishop’s University ($1,000K). 3) A technology development for various high sensitivity imaging applications, including exoplanet research using EMCCD, by Nuvu Cameras ($825K).
CASTOR
Identified as the top priority in the LRP 2020 for a very large space astronomy mission, CASTOR investments continue in the short term with an important technology development planned over two years as mentioned above. This follows a comprehensive science study completed in 2019 that refined the science objectives and derived the requirements of the instruments.
A Phase 0 study and further mission science developments should follow that will provide detailed baseline design of the mission including full cost estimation and a development plan. Such a large mission will require a special budget request from the government as it is outside the operational budget of the CSA. Continued and broadly expressed community support will be essential to realize these objectives.
The CSA is exploring the interests of potential international partners, and in close collaboration with NRC HAA to define a plan forward.
LiteBIRD
JAXA selected LiteBIRD as their next large-class mission and early developments are on-going with international partners. Canada was welcomed as potential contributor several years ago to provide the warm readout electronics for the large array of cryogenic bolometers needed for this CMB-Pol mission. CSA has invested technology developments over several years, including current STDP work with McGill University until the end of 2021 to advance this unique technology. These investments are aligned with the LRP 2020 priorities that marked the LiteBIRD contribution the top priority for a large scale contribution in this decade. CSA is discussing progress with JAXA and other partners of the mission. A concern remains to be resolved following the withdrawal of the US contribution that would have provided the detectors.
Community Support (Grants)
Co-Investigator (Co-I) Grants – Supporting Canadian Researchers on International Missions
The Co-I program was described in the Sept 2019 Cassiopeia issue. CSA is making this a regular annual AO with the next issue expected in September or October. Once the AO is released, a notification will be sent by email to CASCA members. The previous Co-I AO is still viewable on the CSA website for background information.
FAST AO
The FAST 2021 AO is currently posted. With an expected budget of $5.28M, this issue will provide grants in three funding level categories ($300K, $100K, $40K) in various areas of space research.
Please see the webpage for a full description and its closing date.
NSERC PDF Supplements
The CSA STEDIA program has recently announced an opportunity to supplement NSERC Postdoctoral Fellows. An announcement was sent to CASCA members. The program broadly addresses space research including but is not limited to space astronomy. See the webpage of this opportunity on the CSA website for details and closing date.
Student Participation to NASA I2
More recently, CSA is advertising for the support to Canadian student participation on the NASA International Internships. See here for details.
On-line Applications
The CSA is offering fully on-line (electronic portal) application submissions for most AOs. It is necessary to create an account prior to submitting a proposal (instructions are provided within each AO). The account creation should be done several days prior to an AO submission deadline in case of any technical difficulties that could arise requiring CSA intervention to resolve.
Consultations
The JCSA Consultation Committee
The current membership comprises:
Locke Spencer, U. of Lethbridge (co-Chair)
Denis Laurin, CSA (co-Chair)
Mike Hudson, U. of Waterloo
Jess McIver, UBC
Chris Willott, NRC Herzberg
Jeremy Heyl, UBC
The CSA Consultation Committees are shown on the CSA webpage including the Terms of Reference. Two members will be rotating off as they end their terms; researchers with space astronomy experience interested in the membership may express their interest to the JCSA members or the co-Chairs.
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Wishing everyone a colourful autumn!
Denis Laurin