Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST)

[Orionid]

W marcu lub kwietniu po zaobrobawaniu zmian w projekcie planowane jest przejście do Fazy B projektu.
Trwają też zabiegi dotyczące międzynarodowej współpracy.

(...) Hertz said that, under the project’s current schedule, there will be a system requirements review and mission design review in February, followed by an independent cost assessment. That will be followed by the Key Decision Point B review in March or April, which would allow the project to proceed into Phase B of its development. (...)

http://spacenews.com/nasa-plans-to-have-wfirst-reviews-complete-by-april/

[ekoplaneta]

Najnowsza wersja budżetu NASA na rok fiskalny 2019 zaproponowana przez Prezydenta USA znosi finansowanie teleskopu WFIRST:

Terminates a New Space Telescope while Increasing Support for other Astrophysics Priorities. The Budget terminates development of the WFIRST space telescope, which was not executable within its previous budget and would have required a significant funding increase in 2019 and future years. The Budget redirects funding from this mission to competed research including smaller, principal-investigator-led astrophysics missions. These
missions have a history of providing high scientific impact while training the next generation of scientists
and engineers. The Budget continues to fund the $8.8 billion James

https://www.nasa.gov/news/budget/index.html

[kanarkusmaximus]

To byłoby dość śmieszne z tym teleskopem... Leży na Ziemi, nie ma pieniędzy, by go użyć!

[velo]

Zobaczymy - mysle ze ostateczna propozycja budzetu jeszcze sie mocno zmieni. Pamiętajmy że to okres wielu przepychanek i tu środowisko naukowe nie odpuści (za to odpusci Europa Landera)

[Orionid]

Pomimo propozycji anulowania misji trwają prace nad redukcją kosztów teleskopu.
Przewidywane zwiększenie budżetu WEBB-a może odbyć się kosztem misji astrofizycznych.

WFIRST work continues despite budget and schedule uncertainty
by Jeff Foust — March 28, 2018

(...) The biggest change, he said, is turning the other WFIRST instrument, a coronagraph, into solely a technology demonstration. “The direction to us was that we were being too ambitious” by adding science requirements to the instrument that informed its design, he said. “That had impacts in a lot of areas.” (...)

http://spacenews.com/wfirst-work-continues-despite-budget-and-schedule-uncertainty/

[Orionid]

Podpisano kontrakt na Short Wave Infra-Red Sensor Chip Assembly (SCA)

NASA Awards the Short Wave Infra-Red Sensor Chip Assembly for WFIRST
CONTRACT RELEASE C18-011 (Goddard) June 15, 2018

NASA has awarded a contract to Teledyne Scientific & Imaging, LLC, Camarillo, California, for the Short Wave Infra-Red Sensor Chip Assembly (SCA) for the Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST) Project.

Managed by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, WFIRST is fully-funded for Fiscal Year 2018. Work will continue on the mission in this time period until appropriations for Fiscal Year 2019 have been determined.

The contract is a Cost-Plus-Award-Fee contract with a value of $23,035,123. The period of performance is from June 14, 2018, through Oct. 31, 2020.

The contract shall provide 72 Short Wave Infrared SCA devices for the WFIRST Space Flight Focal Plane Assembly. In addition, the contractor shall perform a Warm Functional Test and Cold Functional Screen Test for final space flight SCA testing and performance requirements verification.

https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/goddard/2018/nasa-awards-the-short-wave-infra-red-sensor-chip-assembly-for-wfirst

[Orionid]

Trwają zmagania polityczne o utrzymanie projektu.
Misja HST za kilka lat dobiegnie końca, a WEBB ma przewidziany tylko kilkuletni okres działania.
Pozbawianie się kosmicznych oczu na daleki Wszechświat byłoby krótkowzroczne.

Senator seeks assurances on JWST and WFIRST funding
by Jeff Foust — November 20, 2018

(...) Van Hollen, in his letter, raised concerns about budget pressures on WFIRST that could arise from the need for additional JWST funding. “As you know, the overall cost of WFIRST is highly dependent on the phasing of the project, so to minimize costs, the project’s current funding profile must be maintained so that technical risk can be resolved on long-lead items and major contracts executed to begin work on the bus and other major components,” he wrote.

Van Hollen does have some local interest in keeping JWST and WFIRST on track. The lead center for both missions is the Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland. JWST science operations will be handled by the Space Telescope Science Institute, also located in Maryland. (...)

https://spacenews.com/senator-seeks-assurances-on-jwst-and-wfirst-funding/

[Orionid]

w roku fiskalnym 2019 projekt ma zagwarantowane finansowanie na poziomie 321 mln USD.

Final fiscal year 2019 budget bill secures $21.5 billion for NASA
by Jeff Foust — February 17, 2019

(...) The bill also retains funding for the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST), which NASA sought to cancel in its 2019 budget request. The $321 million provided is intended to keep the mission on track for a launch in the mid-2020s, with a cost cap of $3.2 billion. (...)

https://spacenews.com/final-fiscal-year-2019-budget-bill-secures-21-5-billion-for-nasa/
http://www.forum.kosmonauta.net/index.php?topic=852.msg128715#msg128715

[Orionid]

Nie wiadomo jak będzie w roku budżetowym 2020.
W październiku ma nastąpić przegląd projektu.

WFIRST faces funding crunch
by Jeff Foust — March 28, 2019


Congress ignored NASA's proposal to cancel WFIRST in fiscal year 2019, but the $312 million it provided was $60 million less than what the project needed to stay on track for a 2025 launch. Credit: NASA

WASHINGTON — A NASA astrophysics mission that avoided cancellation last year could still face budget problems if it evades another termination threat this year, agency officials warned this week.

NASA’s fiscal year 2020 budget request includes no funding for the Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST), the next large strategic, or flagship, astrophysics mission for the agency after the James Webb Space Telescope. NASA, in its request, said that it proposed cancelling the mission because of “its significant cost and higher priorities within NASA, including completing the delayed James Webb Space Telescope.”

WFIRST was the top-ranked flagship mission in the latest astrophysics decadal survey, published in 2010. The spacecraft, featuring a 2.4-meter primary mirror provided to NASA by the National Reconnaissance Office, is designed to carry out research ranging from exoplanets to dark matter and dark energy. The mission, currently cost-capped at $3.2 billion, is scheduled for launch in 2025.

At a March 27 hearing of the commerce, justice and science subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee, Rep. José Serrano (D-N.Y.), chairman of the subcommittee, asked NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine about the proposed cancellation of WFIRST, noting the ability of WFIRST to work in concert with JWST. “If one was built to work with the other, why is WFIRST considered for elimination?” he asked.

Bridenstine pointed out the cost and schedule overruns of JWST. “We’re now getting it back on track,” he said. “If James Webb isn’t yet ready, preparing WFIRST right away is probably not the right approach.” He emphasized the importance of having a portfolio of both large and smaller missions.

He suggested WFIRST could be revived once JWST is launched. “WFIRST will be a critical mission when James Webb is on orbit,” he said. (...)

https://spacenews.com/wfirst-faces-funding-crunch/

[Orionid]

WFI (Wide Field Instrument) - główny instrument przeszedł pomyślnie wstępny przegląd projektu.

Main Instrument for NASA’s WFIRST Mission Completes Milestone Review
June 26, 2019



In order to know how the universe will end, we must know what has happened to it so far. This is just one mystery NASA's forthcoming Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST) mission will tackle as it explores the distant cosmos. The spacecraft's giant camera, the Wide Field Instrument (WFI), will be fundamental to this exploration.

The WFI has just passed its preliminary design review, an important milestone for the mission. It means the WFI successfully met the design, schedule and budget requirements to advance to the next phase of development, where the team will begin detailed design and fabrication of the flight hardware.

“This was an outstanding preliminary design review, providing a snapshot of the tremendous amount of engineering this team has accomplished in a short period of time,” said Jamie Dunn, WFIRST project manager at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. “The WFI team is well on their way down the path of building a world-class instrument for NASA’s next great observatory.”

“The preliminary design review is a vital step in the mission because it takes the engineering ideas and assesses them against stringent criteria to make sure they will perform as planned,” said Goddard’s Mary Walker, instrument manager for the WFI. “This is where we find the things we need to tweak so WFIRST can advance to the next stage in its journey.”

Engineers will feed the results of the review into the next design iteration, preparing the instrument for an even more rigorous test — the critical design review, currently planned for June 2020. This will involve data from WFI engineering test units in simulated space environments, including testing at cryogenic temperatures. (...)

https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2019/main-instrument-for-nasa-s-wfirst-mission-completes-milestone-review

[Orionid]

Wstępny przegląd projektu (PDR) został zakończony. Ale nadal sytuacja niepewna , gdy chodzi o jego wystrzelenie w połowie lat 20. XXI w.

WFIRST telescope passes preliminary design review
by Jeff Foust — September 1, 2019

WASHINGTON — The telescope for a major NASA astrophysics mission has passed a key review that the agency says keeps it on track for launch in the mid-2020s despite uncertainty about its funding for 2020 and beyond.

NASA announced Aug. 28 that the telescope assembly for the Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST) mission passed its preliminary design review (PDR), allowing the project to continue work to finalize its design. (...)

https://spacenews.com/wfirst-telescope-passes-preliminary-design-review/

[Orionid]

Etap projektu Key Decision Point C zakończony, co oznacza gotowość do przejścia do kolejnego etapu pozwalającego  produkować  i testować  wyposażenie teleskopu.

Trwa batalia o 505,2 mln USD na kolejny rok budżetowy. Kwota ta ma pozwolić na dotrzymanie harmonogramu, pozwalającego na start w 2026.

WFIRST, proposed for cancellation, is approved for development
by Jeff Foust — March 4, 2020

(...) NASA announced March 2 that the Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST) has passed a review known as Key Decision Point C, which confirms development plans for the mission and allows it to move into full-scale hardware production and testing.(...)

NASA spokesperson Felicia Chou said March 3 that the Key Decision Point C review projected that WFIRST would be ready for launch “by 2026.” Beyer’s letter asked House appropriators to provide $505.2 million for the mission in 2021, and Chou said March 4 that $505.2 million was the amount required for WFIRST in fiscal year 2021 to stay on schedule.
https://spacenews.com/wfirst-proposed-for-cancellation-is-approved-for-development/

WFIRST CLEARS MILESTONE TO BEGIN CONSTRUCTION
By Marcia Smith | Posted: March 2, 2020 8:54 pm ET | Last Updated: March 2, 2020 8:58 pm ET

NASA’s WFIRST space telescope may be on the Trump Administration’s chopping block, but it just cleared a critical milestone review to move forward into construction.  Congress has saved the telescope — the follow-on to the Hubble Space Telescope and the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) — from cancellation twice already. It is expected to do so again for FY2021 despite the Administration’s proposal yet again to terminate it. (...)
https://spacepolicyonline.com/news/wfirst-clears-milestone-to-begin-construction/

[Orionid]

Polska zakupuje WFIRST od NASA
BY REDAKCJA ON 1 KWIETNIA 2020

Polska Agencja Kosmiczna poinformowała o zakupieniu teleskopu WFIRST od NASA. (...)

(...) Jak na razie niewiele wiadomo na temat rakiety nośnej. Prawdopodobnie start odbędzie się z Florydy, co wymusza rakiety amerykańskie. Nieoficjalne źródła sugerują, że start może odbyć się za pomocą rakiety Falcon Heavy lub New Glenn – choć pierwsza opcja wydaje się być bardziej prawdopodobna. WFIRST może stać się elementem stacji LOP-G, krążącej wokół Księżyca. Dla NASA to bardzo dobra opcja, gdyż stację LOP-G będą okresowo odwiedzać astronauci, co oznacza możliwość wykonywania napraw podobnych do tych jakie wykonano na kosmicznym teleskopie Hubble. (...)
https://kosmonauta.net/2020/04/polska-zakupuje-wfirst-od-nasa/

[Orionid]

Polska zakupuje WFIRST od NASA
BY REDAKCJA ON 1 KWIETNIA 2020

W prognozowanym upadku gospodarki USA, a w konsekwencji również NASA otwiera się rynek dla kosmicznych graczy, którzy do tej pory zajmowali niszową pozycję.

Obecnie widoczne na tle innych krajów wysoko rozwiniętych sukcesy rządu RP z walce z pandemią  koronawirusa zdają się  w silniejszej pozycji stawiać polski program kosmiczny, który wobec trudności Arianespace w ekonomicznym utrzymaniu portu kosmicznego w Gujanie Francuskiej, wykazuje aspiracje w wybudowaniu kosmodromu w Ustce nad Bałtykiem. Kolejne etapy rozwojowe polskich rakiet kosmicznych Bursztyn i Bigos są realną alternatywą  wobec podupadających programów kosmicznych NASA i ESA. Również w obliczu katastrofalnego poziomu pandemii koronowirusa w USA eksperci z branży kosmicznej wieszczą rychły upadek firmy Elona Muska.
https://spacenews.com/spacex-files-for-chapter-11-bankruptcy

Zatem niewielkie są perspektywy wyniesienia z Florydy teleskopu WFIRST. Jeśli  Polska zrobiła pierwszy krok w pozyskaniu na wyprzedaży  zaawansowanego teleskopu, to ambicją polskiego programu kosmicznego powinno być jego wyniesienie w kosmos rakietą wyprodukowaną przez polski przemysł rakietowy. Pojawiły się nawet propozycje na nazwy indywidualne dla przyszłej polskiej rakiety kosmicznej: Lech Kaczyński i Krzysztof Penderecki.

[kanarkusmaximus]

Rzeczywiście wiele informacji zbiega się w jednym momencie i składa w jedną logiczną całość. WFIRST wydaje się przy tym być rzeczywiście małym elementem całej układanki!