Monday, January 23, 2023

Subject: Zenith (Telescope Pre-solicitation)

Subject: Zenith (Telescope Pre-solicitation) Due Date: Mar 16, 2023 04:00 pm EDT Government Organization: Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Description: The Defense Sciences Office (DSO) at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is soliciting innovative research proposals related to methods by which a telescope, comprising a reflective liquid primary surface held in a light-focusing shape, may be compelled to maintain that shape even if tilted out-of-plane.
Raleigh
Jan 23, 2023

 

Category: Announcement

DoD Communities Of Interest: R&D Research and Development

Subject: Zenith (Telescope Pre-solicitation)

Due Date: Mar 16, 2023 04:00 pm EDT

Government Organization: Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)

Description:

The Defense Sciences Office (DSO) at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency

(DARPA) is soliciting innovative research proposals related to methods by which a telescope,

comprising a reflective liquid primary surface held in a light-focusing shape, may be compelled

to maintain that shape even if tilted out-of-plane. These mirrors will be tiltable, scalable,

damage-resilient, dual-use (defined as suitable for both space and ground telescope applications),

and in monolithic and segmented designs that require no motion to operate.

Proposed research should investigate innovative approaches that enable revolutionary advances

in science, devices, or systems. Specifically excluded are solutions that require thrust or rotation

of the primary mirror to work and research that primarily results in evolutionary improvements

to the existing state of practice.

The primary goals of the Zenith program are to design, build and prove tiltable, scalable,

damage-resilient liquid mirrors to support future ground and space systems:

1. Develop the requisite surface and field control techniques to allow an LM to be tilted offaxis

and slew, while maintaining imaging quality wavefront error levels, without a

functional dependence on rotation, gravity, or thrust.

2. Develop the open-source modeling tools required to successfully design and predict LM

optical performance for a pointable LMT.

3. Develop both monolithic (single primary mirror) and segmented liquid mirror designs

with associated surface control, modeling, out-of-plane tip/tilt/slew, and imaging quality

wavefront error levels.

4.Demonstrate ground-based laboratory and on-sky LM imaging, with a 2 m diameter lens

and 25° out-of-plane tilt and tip4 angles.

 5. Demonstrate ground-based laboratory and on-sky LM imaging, with a 1 m diameter

segmented lens and 25° out-of-plane tilt and tip5 angles.

Additionally, performers should develop the modeling and simulation (M&S) tools and

numerical approximations to evaluate the hydrodynamic motion of a liquid material while under

the influence of an electromagnetic field (or other actuating/control force). The technical

challenge is to understand how to model, simulate, and predict the evolution of the liquid mirror

surface as a function of the near-field source, and then apply that to a changing vector gravity

scenario given changing tip/tilt angles and slew motion of the mirror. Performers will develop

M&S tools to sufficient fidelity to be able to perform mirror material trades, design of

experiments, and ultimately, support the Phase II M&S and laboratory-scale demonstrations.

Validation, and confidence in the fidelity of these M&S tools, will be established first through

inspection by the program’s Government Independent Verification and Validation (IV&V) team,

and then by release to the wider astronomy community for peer-review.

Questions regarding this Special Notice should be emailed to Zenith@darpa.mil.

Additional information regarding this BAA can be found at the link below.

Website: https://sam.gov/opp/ecd836e486224b09aa074b2a4171eea6/view

Questions or assistance, contact:
North Carolina Defense Technology Transition Office (DEFTECH)

 

Dennis Lewis
lewisd@ncmbc.us
703-217-3127

Bob Burton
burtonr@ncmbc.us
910-824-9609

North Carolina Defense Technology Transition Office | PO Box 1748, Fayetteville, NC 28303