SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION

FOLLOW ON CONTRACT TO PROVIDE OPERATIONS AND SCIENCE SUPPORT TO THE CXO

SOLAR B X RAY TELESCOPE PHASE E

"IGF::OT::IGF" OTHER FUNCTIONS - TROPOSPHERIC EMISSIONS: MONITORING OF POLLUTION (TEMPO) - THE TEMPO INVESTIGATION WAS SELECTED UNDER THE NASA SECOND STAND ALONE MISSIONS OF OPPORTUNITY NOTICE (SALMON-2) ANNOUNCEMENT OF OPPORTUNITY (AO) PROGRAM ELEMENT APPENDIX J, NNH12ZDA006O-EVI1 FOR THE EARTH VENTURE INSTRUMENT-1 (EVI-1) ELEMENT OF THE EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCE PATHFINDER (ESSP) PROGRAM OFFICE'S EARTH VENTURE LINE. TEMPO MEASURES POLLUTION OF NORTH AMERICA, FROM MEXICO CITY TO THE CANADIAN TAR/OIL SANDS, AND FROM THE ATLANTIC TO THE PACIFIC, HOURLY AND AT HIGH SPATIAL RESOLUTION. TEMPO SPECTROSCOPIC MEASUREMENTS IN THE ULTRAVIOLET AND VISIBLE AND PROVIDES A TROPOSPHERIC MEASUREMENT SUITE THAT INCLUDES THE KEY ELEMENTS OF TROPOSPHERIC AIR POLLUTION CHEMISTRY. MEASUREMENTS ARE FROM GEOSTATIONARY ORBIT, TO CAPTURE THE INHERENT HIGH VARIABILITY IN THE DIURNAL CYCLE OF EMISSIONS AND CHEMISTRY. A SMALL PRODUCT SPATIAL FOOTPRINT RESOLVES POLLUTION SOURCES AT SUB-URBAN SCALE. TOGETHER, THIS TEMPORAL AND SPATIAL RESOLUTION IMPROVES EMISSION INVENTORIES, MONITORS POPULATION EXPOSURE, AND ENABLES EFFECTIVE EMISSION-CONTROL STRATEGIES. TEMPO TAKES ADVANTAGE OF A GEOSTATIONARY (GEO) HOST SPACECRAFT TO PROVIDE A MODEST COST MISSION THAT MEASURES THE SPECTRA REQUIRED TO RETRIEVE O3, NO2, SO2, H2CO, C2H2O2, H2O, AEROSOLS, CLOUD PARAMETERS, AND UVB RADIATION. TEMPO THUS MEASURES THE MAJOR ELEMENTS, DIRECTLY OR BY PROXY, IN THE TROPOSPHERIC O3 CHEMISTRY CYCLE. MULTI-SPECTRAL OBSERVATIONS PROVIDE SENSITIVITY TO O3 IN THE LOWERMOST TROPOSPHERE, REDUCING UNCERTAINTY IN AIR QUALITY PREDICTIONS BY 50%. TEMPO QUANTIFIES AND TRACKS THE EVOLUTION OF AEROSOL LOADING. IT PROVIDES NEAR-REAL-TIME AIR QUALITY PRODUCTS THAT WILL BE MADE WIDELY, PUBLICLY AVAILABLE. TEMPO MAKES THE FIRST TROPOSPHERIC TRACE GAS MEASUREMENTS FROM GEO, BY BUILDING ON THE HERITAGE OF FIVE SPECTROMETERS FLOWN IN LOW-EARTH-ORBIT (LEO). THESE LEO INSTRUMENTS MEASURE THE NEEDED SPECTRA, ALTHOUGH AT COARSE SPATIAL AND TEMPORAL RESOLUTIONS, TO THE PRECISIONS REQUIRED FOR TEMPO AND USE RETRIEVAL ALGORITHMS DEVELOPED FOR THEM BY TEMPO SCIENCE TEAM MEMBERS AND CURRENTLY RUNNING IN OPERATIONAL ENVIRONMENTS. THIS MAKES TEMPO AN INNOVATIVE USE OF A WELL PROVEN TECHNIQUE, ABLE TO PRODUCE A REVOLUTIONARY DATASET. TEMPO PROVIDES MUCH OF THE ATMOSPHERIC MEASUREMENT CAPABILITY RECOMMENDED FOR GEO-CAPE IN THE 2007 NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL DECADAL SURVEY, EARTH SCIENCE AND APPLICATIONS FROM SPACE: NATIONAL IMPERATIVES FOR THE NEXT DECADE AND BEYOND. GEO-CAPE IS NOT PLANNED FOR IMPLEMENTATION THIS DECADE, HOWEVER, EUROPE (SENTINEL 4) AND ASIA (GEMS) WILL FORM PARTS OF A GLOBAL GEO CONSTELLATION FOR POLLUTION MONITORING, WITH A MAJOR FOCUS ON INTERCONTINENTAL POLLUTION TRANSPORT. TEMPO WILL LAUNCH AT A PRIME TIME TO BE A COMPONENT OF THIS CONSTELLATION.

THE ADS S MISSION IS ALIGNED WITH NASA S STRATEGIC GOAL OF EXPANDING HUMAN KNOWLEDGE BY ENABLING OPEN SCIENCE AND FOSTERING INTERDISCIPLINARY BREAKTHROUGH RESEARCH.

MID-SCALE RI-1 (M1:DP): NEXT GENERATION EVENT HORIZON TELESCOPE DESIGN

IN OCTOBER 2020 AS PART OF ITS STRATEGIC GOAL TO SUPPORT OPEN INTERDISCIPLINARY SCIENCE NASA REQUESTED THE ADS TEAM TO DEVELOP A PLAN TO EXTEND ADS'S SERVICES TO ALL THE SCIENTIFIC DISCIPLINES SUPPORTED BY THE SCIENCE MISSION DIRECTORATE (SMD). ADS WOULD NO LONGER PRIMARILY SERVE ASTROPHYSICS (AP) BUT BECOME THE DIGITAL LIBRARY FOR PLANETARY SCIENCE (PS) HELIOPHYSICS (HP) EARTH SCIENCE (ES) AND NASA-FUNDED RESEARCH IN BIOLOGICAL AND PHYSICAL SCIENCES (BPS).

WE PROPOSE TO DEVELOP A MULTI-WAVELENGTH INFRARED CORONAGRAPH AND SPECTROPOLARIMETER FOR NASA S SCIENTIFIC BALLOON PROGRAM AND EVENTUAL USE IN SPACE.

THE TROPOSPHERIC EMISSIONS: MONITORING OF POLLUTION (TEMPO) CONTRACT, WILL CONDUCT THE NECESSARY RESEARCH, DEVELOP ALGORITHMS, AND PROVIDE NEAR REAL-TIME PRODUCTS FOR NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION (NASA'S) HINOD MISSION.

WE PROPOSE A FIVE YEAR STUDY TO DEVELOP LONG-TERM (27.5 YEAR) EARTH SYSTEM DATA RECORDS (ESDRS) OF GLOBAL FORMALDEHYDE GLYOXAL AND WATER VAPOR VERTICAL COLUMN DENSITIES. WE WILL PRODUCE UNIFIED COHERENT AND VALIDATED LONG-TERM ESDRS FROM JULY 1995 TO NOVEMBER 2022 BY APPLYING OUR WELL-ESTABLISHED RETRIEVAL ALGORITHMS TO MEASUREMENTS IN THE ULTRAVIOLET AND VISIBLE SPECTRAL REGIONS (325-480 NM) FROM THE GOME SCIAMACHY OMI GOME-2A GOME-2B AND OMPS-NM SATELLITE INSTRUMENTS. THESE ESDRS WILL BE GENERATED IN NASA EARTH SCIENCE DATA SYSTEM STANDARD HDF-EOS5 FILE FORMAT. ALL DATA PRODUCTS WILL INCLUDE KEY ANCILLARY INFORMATION INCLUDING RETRIEVAL QUALITY FLAGS VERTICAL SENSITIVITY INFORMATION (SCATTERING WEIGHTS) RETRIEVAL ERRORS A PRIORI INFORMATION (VERTICAL PROFILES AND SURFACE PROPERTIES) AND CLOUD INFORMATION. TO ENSURE THE UNIFORMITY COHERENCE AND HIGH QUALITY OF THESE PROPOSED ESDRS SUBSTANTIAL EFFORT WILL BE DEVOTED TO THE FOLLOWING: (1) USING CONSISTENT RETRIEVAL ALGORITHMS ACROSS INSTRUMENTS AND GENERATING STANDARDIZED OUTPUTS; (2) DERIVING AN IMPROVED SOLAR IRRADIANCE REFERENCE PERFORMING ACCURATE WAVELENGTH AND INSTRUMENT RESPONSE FUNCTION CALIBRATIONS AND REMOVING NOISE BY APPROPRIATE AVERAGING; (3) HOMOGENIZING A PRIORI INFORMATION IN AIR MASS FACTOR; (4) OPTIMIZING RETRIEVALS CONSISTENCY ACROSS INSTRUMENTS AND TIME USING OVERLAPPING TIME PERIODS AND THROUGH VALIDATION INTERCOMPARISON AND ANALYSIS OF BACKGROUND VALUES; (5) DEVELOPING CONSISTENT GLOBAL MAPS OF REGULARLY GRIDDED ESDRS (LEVEL 3). TO SIGNIFICANTLY FACILITATE THE USAGE OF THESE LONG-TERM ESDRS AND TO SEEK COMMUNITY SCRUTINY REVIEW AND FEEDBACK OF PRODUCT QUALITY AND ACCEPTABILITY DURING THE DURATION OF THE PROPOSAL WE WILL HOST A DEDICATED WEB SERVER. THROUGH IT WE WILL DISTRIBUTE OUR NEW CONSISTENT LEVEL 2 RETRIEVALS AND MONTHLY GRIDDED LEVEL 3 DATA ALONG WITH READING SUB SETTING AND GRIDDING SOFTWARE. FINALLY WE PROPOSE TO SUPPORT ONGOING DATA SYSTEM EVOLUTION EFFORTS THROUGH ACTIVE PARTICIPATION IN THE ACTIVITIES OF ESDS WORKING GROUPS (ESDSWGS) AND SUPPORT ON-GOING IMPROVEMENT OF INSTRUMENT CALIBRATION THROUGH ACTIVE PARTICIPATION IN INSTRUMENT SCIENTIFIC ADVISORY GROUP MEETINGS AND SCIENTIFIC MEETINGS. THE PROPOSED DEVELOPMENTS OF ESDRS FROM INSTRUMENTS OPERATED BY THREE AGENCIES DIRECTLY RESPONDS TO THE OVERALL OBJECTIVE OF MEASURES. IT ADDRESSES THE MAJOR NEED OF DEVELOPING LONG-TERM CONSISTENT AND CALIBRATED DATA PRODUCTS THAT ARE VALID ACROSS MULTIPLE MISSIONS AND SATELLITE SENSORS IN THE NASA EARTH SCIENCE RESEARCH STRATEGY. IT ALSO ADDRESSES THE GOAL OF THE CEOS (COMMITTEE ON EARTH OBSERVATION SATELLITES) ACC (ATMOSPHERIC COMPOSITION CONSTELLATION) TO HAVE MEASUREMENTS FROM DIFFERENT SATELLITES ANALYZED IN A CONSISTENT FASHION IN ORDER TO IMPROVE THE LONG-TERM DATA RECORD. OUR PROPOSED ESDRS OF H2CO CHOCHO AND H2O ALIGN WITH ACC MAJOR THEMES AND NASA STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE ADVANCE KNOWLEDGE OF EARTH AS A SYSTEM TO MEET THE CHALLENGES OF ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE AND TO IMPROVE LIFE IN OUR PLANET AND NASA SCIENCE PLAN ADVANCE THE UNDERSTANDING OF CHANGE IN THE EARTH S RADIATION BALANCE AIR QUALITY AND THE OZONE LAYER THAT RESULT FROM CHANGES IN ATMOSPHERIC COMPOSITION . THIS RESEARCH WILL DIRECTLY BENEFIT FUTURE SIMILAR ESDRS DERIVED USING LEO MEASUREMENTS FROM THE US OPERATIONAL JPSS MISSIONS EUMETSAT METOP-C SENTINEL-5P SENTINEL 5 AND THE GLOBAL CONSTELLATION OF AIR QUALITY GEOSTATIONARY SATELLITES TEMPO (NASA) GEMS (KARI) AND SETINEL-4 (ESA). THESE IMPROVED LONG-TERM ESDRS ADDRESS ALL OF THE FIVE RESEARCH QUESTIONS WITHIN THE NASA ATMOSPHERIC COMPOSITION ROADMAP.

YOUTHASTRONET: RESEARCH ON THE SCALE-UP OF INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGY EXPERIENCES IN ASTRONOMY AND SCIENCE IMAGING

WOU-MMA: OPERATIONS OF VERITAS IN THE EPOCH 2022 TO 2025 -GAMMA RAYS ARE THE HIGHEST ENERGY FORM OF ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION, AND THEIR OBSERVATION HAS PROVEN ESSENTIAL TO ADVANCING OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE MOST EXTREME ASTROPHYSICAL PROCESSING IN THE UNIVERSE. LOCATED AT THE FRED LAWRENCE WHIPPLE OBSERVATORY (FLWO) IN ARIZONA, USA, THE VERY ENERGETIC RADIATION IMAGING TELESCOPE ARRAY SYSTEM (VERITAS) OBSERVATORY PROVIDES WORLD-LEADING SENSITIVITY TO GAMMA-RAYS FOR ENERGIES ABOVE 100 GEV. THIS AWARD PROVIDES THE FUNDING TO CONTINUE OPERATIONS OF VERITAS AND THE PROTOTYPE SCHWARZSCHILD-COUDER TELESCOPE (PSCT). DURING THE PERIOD OF THIS AWARD, THE OBSERVATORY WILL OPERATE TO PROVIDE IN-DEPTH GAMMA-RAY STUDIES OF A WIDE VARIETY OF GALACTIC AND EXTRAGALACTIC VERY HIGH-ENERGY SIGNALS, INCLUDING THOSE ASSOCIATED WITH MULTI-MESSENGER AND TIME-DOMAIN ASTROPHYSICS. THE AWARD WILL ALSO SUPPORT OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF EARLY CAREER SCIENTISTS, ENABLING UNIQUE FIELD WORK AND HARD AND SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENTS. MORE BROADLY, THE AWARD SUPPORTS THE VERITAS COLLABORATION?S EFFORTS IN ZOONIVERSE PROJECTS, AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AT THE FLWO VISITOR CENTRE. VERITAS IS AN ARRAY OF FOUR 12M DIAMETER ATMOSPHERIC CHERENKOV TELESCOPES (ACT), EACH WITH AN IMAGING FIELD OF VIEW OF 3.5 DEGREES. THE PSCT EMPLOYS A NOVEL ACT DUAL-MIRROR OPTICAL SYSTEM DESIGN DEVELOPED FOR USE IN THE NEXT-GENERATION GAMMA-RAY OBSERVATORY, THE CHERENKOV TELESCOPE ARRAY (CTA). OPERATING IN CONJUNCTION, THE OBSERVATORY STUDIES GALACTIC OBJECTS INCLUDING SUPERNOVA REMNANTS, PULSARS, BINARY SYSTEMS, AND THE GALACTIC CENTER, AND EXTRAGALACTIC OBJECTS INCLUDING ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEI, RADIO GALAXIES, AND STARBURST GALAXIES. THE MULTI-MESSENGER PROGRAM OF THE OBSERVATORY INCLUDES SEARCHES FOR TRANSIENT EVENTS FROM SOURCES ASSOCIATED WITH GAMMA-RAY BURSTS, GRAVITATIONAL WAVE SIGNAL, AND HIGH-ENERGY ASTROPHYSICAL NEUTRINOS. IN ADDITION, VERITAS OBSERVATIONS ADDRESS KEY QUESTIONS RELATED TO THE ORIGIN OF HIGH-ENERGY COSMIC-RAYS, THE SEARCH FOR DARK MATTER, AND COSMOLOGY. THIS PROJECT ADVANCES THE GOALS OF THE NSF WINDOWS ON THE UNIVERSE BIG IDEA. THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.

.THIS IS A PROPOSAL FOR A COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT BETWEEN NASA GODDARD SPACE FLIGHT CENTER (GSFC) AND THE SMITHSONIAN ASTROPHYSICAL OBSERVATORY (SAO) OF CAMBRIDGE MASSACHUSETTS. THE AGREEMENT WILL CONTINUE AND EXPAND THE EXTREMELY PRODUCTIVE TEAMING RELATIONSHIP BEGUN WITH THE HITOMI MISSION AND NOW THE XRISM MISSION. THE PROPOSED AGREEMENT WHEN PUT IN PLACE WILL ENSURE THAT THE UNIQUE EXPERTISE AND INSIGHT OF THE SAO TEAM WILL BE MADE AVAILABLE TO NASA AS PART OF THE US PARTICIPATION IN XRISM.. BECAUSE OF THE POTENTIAL FOR EVOLUTION IN THE US INVOLVEMENT IN XRISM AS WELL AS CHANGES IN THE NEEDS OF THE XRISM TEAM THE FLEXIBILITY OF A COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT IS IN THE BEST INTEREST OF BOTH NASA/GSFC AND SAO. THE FOLLOWING SUBSECTIONS OUTLINE AREAS WHERE SAO EXPECTS TO PROVIDE IMPORTANT HIGH LEVEL AND UNIQUE SUPPORT TO NASA IN FORMULATING AND PROVIDING THE US COMMITMENT TO THE XRISM. .THIS DESCRIPTION OF AREAS OF PARTICIPATION IS NOT A STATEMENT OF WORK. RATHER IT DEFINES THOSE AREAS WHERE IT IS ANTICIPATED THAT SAO CAN MAKE THE MOST MEANINGFUL CONTRIBUTION AND IN THAT SENSE SHOWS HOW SAO IS ABLE TO COMPLEMENT (AND SUPPLEMENT) THE GSFC TEAM WITH ALL STAFF WORKING TOGETHER UNDER THE OVERALL DIRECTION OF THE XRISM PROJECT SCIENTIST. .THIS STATEMENT OF COLLABORATION OUTLINES HOW THE SMITHSONIAN ASTROPHYSICAL OBSERVATORY (SAO) WILL CARRY OUT ITS TECHNICAL SCIENTIFIC AND MANAGEMENT SUPPORT ROLE IN FORMULATION PLANS FOR IMPLEMENTING XRISM X-RAY SCIENCE IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE XRISM PROJECT SCIENTIST AND THEIR TEAM AT THE NASA GODDARD SPACE FLIGHT CENTER (GSFC). .THE CORE SCIENTIFIC STAFF THAT HAS SUPPORTED EARLIER PHASES OF THE HITOMI TEAM AND NOW THE XRISM PROGRAM WILL UNDER THIS PROPOSAL CONTINUE TO SUPPORT THE EFFORTS WITH GSFC COMMENSURATE WITH THE AVAILABLE BUDGETS. 3 REQUESTED FUNDING .

THE NASA GODDARD SPACE FLIGHT CENTER (GSFC) HAS DEVELOPED AND CONTINUE TO MATURE THE MILLI-K SCALE THERMALLY STABLE AND PICOMETER SPATIAL METROLOGY SYSTEM TO STUDY THE BASIC BUILDING BLOCKS OF FUTURE ULTRA-STABLE TELESCOPES KEY TO ENABLING HIGH CONT

THE OVERARCHING GOAL OF THIS PROPOSAL IS TO GAIN A COMPREHENSIVE UNDERSTANDING OF THE GLOBAL ENERGY BUDGET AND ENERGY PARTITIONING IN SOLAR ERUPTIVE EVENTS FROM THE CHROMOSPHERE TO THE INNER HELIOSPHERE.

ECCCO - A WIDE-FIELD EXTREME ULTRA-VIOLET IMAGER AND A UNIQUE IMAGING EUV SPECTROGRAPH PHASE A

HIGH RESOLUTION CORONAL IMAGER (HI-C) FLARE ROCKET

THE SWIFT SOLAR ACTIVITY X-RAY IMAGER (SSAXI) INSTRUMENT FOR THE HI-C FLARE CAMPAIGN

THE HIGH RESOLUTION CORONAL IMAGER: HI-C

HITRAN PACT (PRACTICAL ACCURATE COMPLETE AND TRACEABLE) TO SUPPORT NASA REMOTE-SENSING MISSIONS OF THE ATMOSPHERE

MARSHALL GRAZING INCIDENT X-RAY SPECTROMETER (MAGIXS)

IGF::OT::IGF X-RAY SUVEYOR 2020 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCE'S DECADAL SURVEY OF ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS. SEE ATTACHMENT J-2 STATMENT OF WORK.

EXECUTE A BALANCED SCIENCE PROGRAM BASED ON DISCIPLINE-SPECIFIC GUIDANCE FROM THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES OF SCIENCES ENGINEERING AND MEDICINE ADMINISTRATION PRIORITIES AND DIRECTION FROM CONGRESS. PARTICIPATE AS A KEY PARTNER AND ENABLER IN THE AGE

THE PROPOSED WIDE-FIELD IMAGER INSTRUMENT FOR THE WIDE-FIELD INFRARED SURVEY TELESCOPE BASED ON THE ASTROPHYSICS FOCUSED TELESCOPE ASSETS (WFIRST-AFTA) PROMISES TO UNCOVER MANY OUTSTANDING SECRETS OF THE UNIVERSE. SAO PROPOSES TO PROVIDE HIGH LEVEL TECHNICAL SUPPORT TO THIS EFFORT. IN ACCORDANCE WITH EMAIL AND VERBAL CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN LESTER COHEN AND JEFFREY SCOTT SMITH NASA AND BETWEEN SANG PARK AND ALICE LUI THE SMITHSONIAN ASTROPHYSICAL OBSERVATORY (SAO) IS PLEASED TO SUBMIT THIS LEVEL OF EFFORT PROPOSAL TO PROVIDE CONSULTATIVE SERVICES TO THE TELESCOPE DESIGN AND ANALYSIS FOR THE WFIRST PROGRAM

IGF::OT::IGF THE PHASE A EFFORT FOR SAO WILL CONSIST OF DETAILED DEFINITION OF THE MISSION INCLUDING THE SCIENCE INSTRUMENT, SPACECRAFT, GROUND STATION, AND SCIENCE DATA PROCESSING AND PIPELINE. PROGRAM PLANS WILL BE PREPARED AND DETAILED RISK ASSESSMENTS WILL BE PERFORMED ON ALL TECHNICAL AND SCHEDULE ASPECTS OF THE PROGRAM. THIS EFFORT WILL INCLUDE WORK BY PARTNERS AMES RESEARCH CENTER (ARC), ORBITAL ATK (OATK), THE MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY (MIT) AND PENN STATE UNIVERSITY (PSU). SAO WILL PREPARE SUBCONTRACTS FOR MIT AND PSU UPON AWARD NOTIFICATION. THE PRIMARY GOAL OF THE PHASE A EFFORT IS TO PRODUCE A CSR TO SUBMIT TO THE EXPLORERS PROGRAM OFFICE. THE CSR WILL INCLUDE A DETAILED SCHEDULE, BUDGET AND COST PROPOSAL COVERING PROJECT PHASES B/C/D/E, IN ADDITION TO IN-DEPTH TECHNICAL CONTENT. ARCUS IS AN X-RAY GRATING SPECTROSCOPY EXPLORER MISSION. THE ARCUS MISSION IS MANAGED BY NASA AMES RESEARCH CENTER (ARC), WITH THE PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR AT THE SMITHSONIAN ASTROPHYSICAL OBSERVATORY (SAO). ARCUS CONSISTS OF AN X-RAY TELESCOPE, PROVIDED BY SAO, INTEGRATED WITH A SPACECRAFT, PROVIDED BY ORBITAL-ATK (OATK). THE INTEGRATION AND ENVIRONMENTAL TESTING OF THE COMBINED SPACECRAFT AND TELESCOPE (I.E. OBSERVATORY) IS THE RESPONSIBILITY OF OATK. THE ARCUS MISSION INCLUDES THE DESIGN, PRODUCTION, TEST, INTEGRATION, LAUNCH, COMMISSIONING AND SCIENCE OPERATIONS OF THE OBSERVATORY, AS DESCRIBED IN THE SAO PROPOSAL TITLED: ARCUS- EXPLORING THE FORMATION AND EVOLUTION OF CLUSTERS, GALAXIES, AND STARS.

X-RAY OPTICS ARE AN ESSENTIAL COMPONENT OF NEARLY ALL FUTURE X-RAY ASTRONOMY MISSIONS. THEIR MASS AND COST ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTORS

WE PROPOSE TO CONTINUE THE ON-GOING DEVELOPMENT OF MINIATURE X-RAY OPTICS (MIXO).

MRI: DEVELOPMENT OF AN AIRBORNE CORONAL EMISSION SURVEYOR (ACES)

DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION OF JOINT PROGRAMS IN LASER RANGING AND OTHER SPACE GEODESY TECHNIQUES

IGF::OT::IGF WHIPPLE TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT STATEMENT OF WORK 1.0 THE PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR SHALL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE FOLLOWING: BYPASS THE TELEDYNE JADE CARD DATA INTERFACE TO SUPPORT HIGH SPEED INTERFACE TO DIGITAL SIGNAL PROCESSOR. DESIGN AND BUILD CAMERA CONTROL UNIT FOR COMMAND INTERFACE TO ELECTRIC GROUND SUPPORT EQUIPMENT (EGSE). DEVELOP AND TEST DIGITAL SIGNAL PROCESSOR FOR MULTIPLE STAR DATA STREAMS. DEVELOP AND TEST DATA FORMATTING AND DATA STORAGE SYSTEM. DEVELOP AND TEST MULTI-WINDOW FIRMWARE FOR SYSTEM IMAGE, DIGITIZING, ENHANCING, CONTROLLING, AND RETRIEVING (SIDECAR) APPLICATION SPECIFIC INTEGRATED CIRCUIT (ASIC). MODIFY STAR SIMULATOR TO ADD LARGE NUMBERS OF CONSTANT STAR IMAGES. MODIFY VACUUM TEST STATION TO SUPPORT NEW INTERFACES. DESIGN AND IMPLEMENT EGSE TO INTERFACE WITH CAMERA CONTROL UNIT, DIGITAL SIGNAL PROCESSOR AND DATA FORMATTING AND STORAGE SYSTEM. CARRY OUT END-TO-END OPERATION OF THE WHIPPLE FOCAL PLANE AND GROUND DATA SYSTEM TO CHARACTERIZE PERFORMANCE AND MEASURE EFFICIENCY OF THE DETECTION OF OCCULTATION EVENTS. 2.0 THE SCHEDULE: DURING THE FIRST YEAR, THE FOLLOWING SHALL BE PREPARED: SMITHSONIAN ASTROPHYSICAL OBSERVATORY (SAO) SHALL DESIGN AND BUILD THE OFF-FOCAL PLANE ELECTRONICS CONSISTING OF THE CAMERA CONTROL UNIT, THE DATA ROUTER, DIGITAL SIGNAL PROCESSOR AND THE DATA FORMATTER AND STORAGE ELEMENTS. THE HAWAII-2RG (H2RG) AND SIDECAR ARE ALREADY IN HAND AS IS A THERMAL VACUUM TEST CHAMBER. HOWEVER, THE CHAMBER WILL REQUIRE MODIFICATION TO ALLOW THE SIDECAR TO CONNECT TO THE CAMERA CONTROL UNIT AND TRANSFER DATA VIA A HIGH-SPEED BUS (I.E., A NEW VACUUM FEED THROUGH CONNECTION WILL BE NEEDED). SAO SHALL REMOVE THE EXISTING STAR SIMULATOR FROM THE VACUUM CHAMBER AND REPLACE IT WITH A SMALL OPTICAL WINDOW. SAO SHALL PROCURE THE TELEPHOTO LENS AND BUILD THE NECESSARY STRUCTURE TO HOLD IT AND ENCLOSE THE STAR SIMULATOR. SAO SHALL DESIGN THE EGSE AND BUILD THE WHIPPLE SPECIFIC INTERFACES NEEDED TO COMMAND THE CAMERA CONTROL UNIT AND RECORD DATA FROM THE FORMATTER AND STORAGE UNIT. SAO SHALL DEVELOP THE SIDECAR FIRMWARE NEEDED TO READ OUT THE MULTIPLE WINDOWS, PERFORM CDS NOISE REDUCTION AND SUM THE REGION OF INTEREST (ROI) PIXEL INTENSITIES. SAO SHALL INTEGRATE THE ELECTRONICS WITH THE DETECTOR AND CARRY OUT A SUITE OF MEASUREMENTS TO CHARACTERIZE THE NULL (NOISE) RESPONSE OF THE SYSTEM. SAO SHALL COMPLETE THE BUILD AND SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT FOR THE EGSE. SAO SHALL COMPLETE THE UPGRADES TO THE STAR SIMULATOR AND INTEGRATE IT WITH THE TELEPHOTO LENS. SAO SHALL CHARACTERIZE THE STAR SIMULATOR AND CALIBRATE STAR INTENSITIES. SAO SHALL COMPLETE THE FULL END-TO-END INTEGRATION OF THE SYSTEM. 3.0 DURING THE SECOND PART OF YEAR TWO, THE FOLLOWING SHALL BE PREPARED: SAO SHALL MEASURE PERFORMANCE OF THE PHOTOMETER AS DISCUSSED ABOVE, OBTAINING SUFFICIENT DATA TO TEST THE NUMERICAL MODELS USED TO PREDICT WHIPPLE PERFORMANCE. SAO SHALL MEASURE SIMULATED STAR OCCULTATION EVENTS, AND CARRY OUT GROUND DATA ANALYSIS AND RECOVERY OF EVENT PARAMETERS TO COMPARE WITH INPUT VALUES AND PRODUCE DISTRIBUTION FUNCTIONS FOR THE OBSERVED VERSUS EXPECTED VALUES. SAO SHALL INTRODUCE VARIOUS IMPERFECTIONS IN THE PHOTOMETER (E.G., OUT OF FOCUS) AND MEASURE THE SENSITIVITY OF PERFORMANCE AGAINST THESE VARIATIONS TO CALIBRATE OUR SYSTEM MODELS AND ESTABLISH REQUIREMENTS ON THE FLIGHT DESIGN PERFORMANCE. SAO SHALL SUBMIT A WRITTEN FINAL REPORT.

RESEARCH INFRASTRUCTURE: MRI: DEVELOPMENT OF A SMALL APERTURE TELESCOPE PATHFINDER TO ADVANCE STUDIES OF THE POLARIZED COSMIC MICROWAVE BACKGROUND -THIS MAJOR RESEARCH INSTRUMENTATION PROJECT WILL HELP ANSWER THE BIG QUESTION: ?HOW DID THE UNIVERSE BEGIN?? IT DOES SO BY BUILDING AND TESTING A SENSITIVE INSTRUMENT THAT WOULD MEASURE ELECTROMAGNETIC EMISSION THAT FILLS SPACE AS A RESULT OF PROCESSES IN THE EARLY UNIVERSE. THIS EMISSION IS BEST MEASURED AT MICROWAVE WAVELENGTHS, SO IT IS REFERRED TO AS THE COSMIC MICROWAVE BACKGROUND (CMB). A SMALL PROTYPE INSTRUMENT, REFERRED TO AS PSAT, WILL BE BUILT TO EVALUATE MANY OF THE TECHNOLOGIES THAT HAVE BEEN DEVELOPED FOR A FUTURE, LARGE EXPERIMENT TO MEASURE THE CMB FAR MORE PRECISELY. THE MEMBERS OF THIS RESEARCH TEAM WILL ENGAGE WITH EDUCATORS AND THE PUBLIC ON OBSERVING/MEASURING THE ORIGINS OF THE UNIVERSE. WITHIN THE LARGER CMB EXPERIMENT PROGRAM, THIS PROJECT WILL PROVIDE RESEARCH EXPERIENCE FOR GRADUATE AND UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS, AS WELL AS TRAINING FOR POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCHERS. FINDING DIRECT EVIDENCE FOR COSMIC INFLATION IS AN IMPORTANT GOAL IN ASTRONOMY AND PHYSICS TODAY. INFLATION MODELS PREDICT THE EXISTENCE OF PRIMORDIAL GRAVITATIONAL WAVES, WHICH IMPART A UNIQUE ?B-MODE? PATTERN TO THE POLARIZATION OF THE COSMIC MICROWAVE BACKGROUND (CMB) AND PROVIDE A KEY TEST OF SUCH MODELS. THERE HAVE BEEN AN IMPROVING SERIES OF INSTRUMENTS TO MAKE THE NEEDED MEASUREMENTS. THIS PROJECT WILL DEVELOP AND TEST PSAT, A CMB POLARIMETER INTEGRATING DETECTORS AND OPTICS DEVELOPED FOR THE NEXT-GENERATION CMB-S4 PROJECT WITH EXISTING FIELD-PROVEN BICEP ARRAY HARDWARE. PSAT WILL UTILIZE NEW 95 GHZ/155 GHZ DUAL-BAND DUAL-POLARIZATION PROTOTYPE DETECTORS, WITH PROTOTYPE OPTICS INCORPORATING WIDE-BAND AR COATINGS, IN A BICEP ARRAY RECEIVER CRYOSTAT THAT WILL BE ADAPTED TO INCLUDE A 100MK ADIABATIC DEMAGNETIZATION REFRIGERATOR. THE ENGINEERING, PERFORMANCE EVALUATION, AND REPRESENTATIVE DATA WILL BE PROVIDED TO THE CMB-S4 PROJECT. THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.

THIS PROPOSAL IS ESSENTIAL FOR UNDERSTANDING HOW MARTIAN DUST STORMS DEVELOP WHICH IS WITHIN THE SCOPE OF THE PLANETARY ATMOSPHERES PART OF NASA S SOLAR SYSTEM WORKINGS PROGRAM.

23-NUP2023-0076 ALGORITHM MAINTENANCE FOR SAO OMI PRODUCTS

DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION OF JOINT PROGRAMS IN LASER RANGING AND OTHER SPACE GEODESY TECHNIQUES 1. INTERNATIONAL LASER RANGING SERVICE (ILRS) AS DIRECTOR OF THE ILRS CENTRAL BUREAU, A MEMBER OF THE ILRS GOVERNING BOARD, AND A MEMBER OF SEVERAL OF THE ILRS WORKING GROUPS, THE CONTRACTOR SHALL OVERSEE DAILY OPERATIONS AND IMPLEMENTATION OF ILRS PROCEDURES, AND PROVIDE GUIDANCE TO MAKE THE INTERNATIONAL SLR ACTIVITIES RESPONSIVE TO USER NEEDS. ADDITIONAL THE CONTRACTOR SHALL FACILITATE COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TRANSFER, ORGANIZE MEETINGS AND WORKSHOPS, PROVIDE SERVICE DOCUMENTATION; PROVIDE COORDINATION OF OVERSEAS SLR TRACKING SUPPORT FOR NEW MISSIONS FROM PRE-LAUNCH ORGANIZATION THROUGH TRACKING PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT. THE CONTRACTOR SHALL PROMOTE COMPLIANCE WITH THE ILRS STANDARDS, CONTINUE TO ORGANIZE AND PARTICIPATE IN THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY, GOVERNING BOARD, AND CENTRAL BUREAU MEETINGS; OVERSEE THE ISSUE OF REPORTS AND PUBLICATIONS; AND ASSIGN ACTION ITEMS AND MONITOR THEIR STATUS. 2. GLOBAL GEODETIC OBSERVING SYSTEM (GGOS) AS A MEMBER OF THE GGOS EXECUTIVE BOARD AND STEERING COMMITTEE, THE CONTRACTOR SHALL SUPPORT THE INTEGRATION OF GGOS AS THE OFFICIAL COMPONENT (OBSERVING SYSTEM) OF THE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF GEODESY (IAG) WITH THE OBJECTIVE OF ENSURING THE AVAILABILITY OF GEODETIC SCIENCE, INFRASTRUCTURE, AND PRODUCTS TO SUPPORT GLOBAL CHANGE RESEARCH IN EARTH SCIENCES. AS DIRECTOR OF THE GGOS BUREAU FOR NETWORKS AND COMMUNICATION, THE CONTRACTOR SHALL PROVIDE OVERSIGHT, COORDINATION, AND GUIDANCE FOR THE DEVELOPMENT, IMPLEMENTATION AND OPERATION OF THE NETWORK OF CORE (CO-LOCATION) SITES AND DEVELOP A STRATEGY TO DESIGN, INTEGRATE AND MAINTAIN THE FUNDAMENTAL GEODETIC NETWORK OF CO-LOCATED INSTRUMENTS AND SUPPORTING INFRASTRUCTURE IN A SUSTAINABLE WAY TO SATISFY THE LONG TERM (10 - 20 YEARS) REQUIREMENTS IDENTIFIED BY THE GGOS SCIENCE COUNCIL. THE CONTRACTOR SHALL SUPPORT THE GGOS INTER-AGENCY COMMITTEE IN ITS OUTREACH ROLE TO EXPAND GGOS MEMBERSHIP AND INCREASE INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT FOR THE STRENGTHENING GGOS INFRASTRUCTURE. 3. NASA WORKING GROUP ON SPACE GEODESY THE CONTRACTOR SHALL SUPPORT THE ACTIVITIES OF THE NASA WORKING GROUP ON GROUND NETWORKS TO SCOPE AND PLAN NASA'S ROLE IN THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE GEODESY NETWORK; THE CONTRACTOR SHALL SUPPORT TASKS AS SPECIFIED IN THE NASA SPACE GEODESY PROGRAM PROPOSAL; 4. RETRO-REFLECTOR ARRAYS AND STANDARDS THE CONTRACTOR SHALL SUPPORT THE DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF RETROREFLECTORS ARRAYS FOR IMPROVING RANGING PERFORMANCE. THE CONTRACTOR SHALL SUPPORT THE EFFORT TO PLACE RETROREFLECTOR ARRAYS ON THE GPS-3 SERIES AND OTHER PROGRAMMED AND PLANNED MISSIONS. 5. TECHNICAL, MANAGEMENT, AND ENGINEERING SUPPORT THE CONTRACTOR SHALL SUPPORT THE DEVELOPMENT, IMPLEMENTATION AND REVIEW OF THE NASA SLR SYSTEMS AND SUPPORT INFRASTRUCTURE. THE CONTRACTOR SHALL SUPPORT DEVELOPMENT AND COMMUNICATION OF SITE REQUIREMENTS FOR FUNDAMENTAL STATIONS. THE CONTRACTOR SHALL PROVIDE TECHNICAL AND MANAGEMENT ASSISTANCE TO OVERSEAS GROUPS IN DEVELOPING AND IMPLEMENTING SPACE GEODETIC MEASUREMENT PROGRAMS, HELPING TO COORDINATE THEIR ACTIVITIES WITH NASA AND THE REST OF THE GLOBAL SPACE GEODESY COMMUNITY; SUPPORT THE PURSUIT, INSTALLATION, AND OPERATION OF OVERSEAS LASER RANGING SYSTEMS, INCLUDING SEEKING NEW INTEREST GROUPS, ASSISTING IN DEVELOPMENT OF LOCAL PROGRAMS, SITE ASSESSMENT, AND RECONNAISSANCE, AND COORDINATION AND SUPPORT ACTIVITIES WITH NASA PROGRAMS. THE CONTRACTOR SHALL WORK WITH NASA AND OTHER ACTIVE SLR GROUPS TO DEVELOP OPTIONS FOR LOCATION OF SLR SYSTEMS TO ENHANCE GLOBAL COVERAGE AND TO DEVELOP COST SHARING OPTIONS AND MORE COST EFFECTIVE MEANS OF STATION OPERATIONS.

LABORATORY XUV SPECTROSCOPY: INCREASING THE SCIENTIFIC RETURN OF SOLAR MISSIONS

WE PROPOSE TO THE H-TIDS ITDS 2019 CALL TO FURTHER ENHANCE CAPABILITIES FOR SOFT X-RAY AND EUV DYNAMIC IMAGING. WE WILL DEVELOP HIGH SPEED READOUT BACK-ILLUMINATED CMOS SOFT X-RAY (SXR) DETECTORS TO 1) MITIGATE SATURATION AND BLOOMING OF SOLAR FLARE IMAGES 2) STUDY HIGH TIME CADENCE (0.05 SECOND VARIATIONS) PHENOMENA AND 3) GENERATE SPECTRAL IMAGES OF ACTIVE REGIONS (ARS) CORONAL BRIGHT POINTS (CBPS) SMALL FLARES (A - B GOES CLASS) AND ASPECTS OF THE QUIET SUN (QS). THE HIGH SPEED READ OUT DETECTORS ALONE CAN PROVIDE COURSE LOW TIME CADENCE (MINUTES) MODERATE SPECTRAL RESOLUTION (RESOLVING POWERS E/DE OF 10 40) SPECTRA. TO ENABLE NARROWBAND (RESOLVING POWERS E/DE OF 50 100) SPECTRAL IMAGES WE WILL ALSO DESIGN DEPOSIT AND MEASURE REFLECTIVITY OF SXR NARROWBAND MULTILAYER MIRRORS (MLM) AS A PROOF OF CONCEPT. THIS WORK WILL SETUP A FUTURE PROPOSAL FOR SPACEFLIGHT DEMONSTRATIONS ON FUTURE SOUNDING ROCKET LAUNCHES CUBESATS AND LARGE SATELLITE MISSIONS. OUR PROPOSED WORK DIRECTLY ADDRESSES THE NASA HELIOPHYSICS DIVISION AND NRC DECADAL SURVEY FUNDAMENTAL SCIENCE QUESTION WHAT CAUSES THE SUN TO VARY? AND ADDRESSES THE NASA HELIOPHYSICS SCIENCE GOAL OF EXPLORE THE PHYSICAL PROCESSES IN THE SPACE ENVIRONMENT FROM THE SUN TO THE EARTH AND THROUGHOUT THE SOLAR SYSTEM. QUESTION 1 IS DO SOLAR FLARES VARY ON SUB-SECOND TIMESCALES AND IF SO WHAT DOES THIS TELL US ABOUT THE MAGNETIC FIELD? SXR FILTERS CAN BE USED TO MODIFY THE SPECTRAL BANDPASS AND INTENSITY RANGE OF HIGH SPEED READOUT (40 HZ - 1 000 HZ SPEED VARIES AS A FUNCTION OF READOUT REGION SIZE) CMOS DETECTORS WHICH CAN BE USED TO STUDY THE BRIGHTNESS EVOLUTION OF SOLAR FLARES ON SUB-SECOND TIMESCALES. FURTHERMORE CHARGE BLOOMING WHICH COMMONLY OCCURS WITH CCDS AND HAS HINDERED HINODE X-RAY TELESCOPE LARGE FLARE IMAGES CAN BE MINIMIZED WITH CMOS DETECTORS. EACH CMOS PIXEL IS UNIQUELY ADDRESSABLE WITH SEPARATE PREAMPLIFIER AND READOUT CAPABILITIES AND ARCHITECTURE TO PREVENT CHARGE FROM SPILLING TO ADJACENT PIXELS. THIS CAN GREATLY INCREASE SXR FLARE IMAGE QUALITY. INTENSITY VARIATIONS OF ARS CBPS AND THE QS CAN ALSO BE DETERMINED ON SUB-SECOND TIMESCALES DEPENDING ON THE INSTRUMENTATION THAT IS COUPLED TO THE DETECTOR.

INTRA-SEASONAL VARIABILITY OF THE TROPICAL CLOUD BELT AND THE ASSOCIATED ATMOSPHERIC WAVES

PROPOSAL TITLE : ENHANCING CAPABILITIES OF THE HITRAN AND HITEMP MOLECULAR SPECTROSCOPIC DATABASES FOR STUDIES OF PLANETARY ATMOSPHERES

CHARACTERIZATION OF NEAR-EARTH OBJECTS USING SPITZER NEO PROGRAM DATA

21-HSR21_2-0009 UNRAVELING THE DYNAMICS OF THE SLOW WIND USING MAGNETOHYDRODYNAMIC MODELING AND OBSERVATIONAL CONSTRAINTS

POWERFUL X-RAY DIAGNOSTICS FOR THE NEXT GREAT OBSERVATORY

NSF-BSF: THE FREQUENCY AND MASS-RATIO DISTRIBUTION OF SUPER-EARTHS IN KMTNET

WOU-MMA: OPERATIONS OF VERITAS IN THE EPOCH 2025 TO 2028 -GAMMA-RAYS REPRESENT THE HIGHEST ENERGY FORM OF ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION. OBSERVING GAMMA-RAYS FROM ASTROPHYSICAL SOURCES ALLOWS SCIENTISTS TO EXPLORE THE PHYSICAL CONDITIONS AND PROCESSES OCCURRING IN SOME OF THE MOST EXTREME ENVIRONMENTS IN THE UNIVERSE. THESE HIGH-ENERGY RAYS CAN BE UTILIZED TO TEST FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES OF PHYSICS AND ARE SIGNIFICANT IN THE CONTEXT OF MULTI-MESSENGER ASTROPHYSICS. THE VERY ENERGETIC RADIATION IMAGING TELESCOPE ARRAY SYSTEM (VERITAS), SITUATED IN SOUTHERN ARIZONA, STANDS AS THE MOST SENSITIVE OBSERVATORY IN THE WORLD FOR STUDYING VERY HIGH-ENERGY GAMMA RAYS. THIS FUNDING AWARD WILL SUPPORT THE CONTINUED OPERATION OF VERITAS FOR ONE YEAR. DURING THIS PERIOD, THE FACILITY WILL EXECUTE A PROGRAM TO CONDUCT HIGH-SENSITIVITY OBSERVATIONS OF BOTH GALACTIC AND EXTRAGALACTIC SOURCES. THIS INITIATIVE AIMS TO ADDRESS IMPORTANT SCIENTIFIC QUESTIONS IN BOTH GALACTIC AND EXTRAGALACTIC ASTROPHYSICS, AS WELL AS EXPLORE THEMES IN MULTI-MESSENGER AND TIME-DOMAIN ASTROPHYSICS. ADDITIONALLY, THIS AWARD ALLOCATES RESOURCES FOR A NEW PROTOTYPE TELESCOPE AT THE VERITAS SITE. THIS PROTOTYPE IS INTENDED FOR FUTURE USE IN THE UPCOMING CHERENKOV TELESCOPE ARRAY OBSERVATORY (CTAO), WHICH REPRESENTS THE NEXT GENERATION OF GAMMA-RAY OBSERVATORIES. VERITAS POSSESSES UNIQUE CAPABILITIES AND OFFERS A BROAD RANGE OF RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES FOR ITS USER COMMUNITY. THE FUNDING ALSO PROVIDES TRANSFORMATIVE OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF EMERGING SCIENTISTS. THIS INCLUDES SUPPORTING FIELDWORK AT VERITAS, ADVANCED TRAINING, HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT, AND NEW INTERNSHIP OPPORTUNITIES. EFFORTS RELATED TO THE CTAO WILL SECURE ACCESS TO THIS NEXT-GENERATION FACILITY FOR THE ENTIRE U.S. SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITY. FURTHERMORE, THIS AWARD PROMOTES ENGAGEMENT WITH THE PUBLIC IN SCIENCE THROUGH COLLABORATIVE INITIATIVES WITH THE F.L. WHIPPLE OBSERVATORY SCIENCE CENTER. VERITAS IS AN ARRAY OF FOUR 12-METER ATMOSPHERIC-CHERENKOV TELESCOPES AND WILL BE THE STATE OF THE ART UNTIL EARLY CTAO OPERATIONS IN ~2027. THIS AWARD WILL ENABLE IN-DEPTH ?-RAY STUDIES OF A WIDE VARIETY OF GALACTIC AND EXTRAGALACTIC VERY-HIGH-ENERGY (VHE; E > 100 GEV) EMITTERS TO BE PERFORMED. SEARCHES ARE PLANNED FOR VHE SIGNALS FROM POTENTIAL SOURCES OF ALL KNOWN ASTRONOMICAL MESSENGERS: PHOTONS, NEUTRINOS, COSMIC RAYS, AND GRAVITATIONAL WAVES. VERITAS IS THE ONLY OBSERVATORY AT ITS LONGITUDE CAPABLE OF DETECTING TRANSIENT VHE EMISSION FROM HIGH-REDSHIFT EXTRAGALACTIC SOURCES ASSOCIATED WITH MULTI-MESSENGER EVENTS. VERITAS STUDIES LEVERAGE MAJOR OBSERVATORIES AT ALL ENERGIES AND HAVE BROAD IMPLICATIONS BEYOND THE PHYSICS OF THE OBJECTS THEMSELVES, ADDRESSING A RANGE OF ISSUES IN FUNDAMENTAL PHYSICS INCLUDING COSMOLOGY, COSMIC-RAY ORIGIN, AND THE NATURE OF DARK MATTER. AN INTENSITY-INTERFEROMETRY PROGRAM FOCUSED ON STELLAR PHYSICS WILL ALSO BE ENABLED. THE SUPPORT FOR THE CTAO PROTOTYPE EFFORT ENABLES CRITICAL INSTRUMENT DEVELOPMENT AND ALLOWS SCIENTISTS TO FULLY UNDERSTAND THIS NOVEL TELESCOPE, TO CONCLUSIVELY DEMONSTRATE THAT IT PERFORMS AS EXPECTED AND TO OPTIMIZE ITS FINAL DESIGN. THIS PROJECT ADVANCES THE OBJECTIVES OF WINDOWS ON THE UNIVERSE: THE ERA OF MULTI-MESSENGER ASTROPHYSICS, ONE OF THE 10 BIG IDEAS FOR FUTURE NSF INVESTMENTS. THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.- SUBAWARDS ARE NOT PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

FOLLOW-UP OBSERVING PROGRAM FOR THE TESS EXTENDED MISSION

REU SITE: SOLAR PHYSICS AT THE CENTER FOR ASTROPHYSICS, HARVARD & SMITHSONIAN -THIS RESEARCH EXPERIENCE FOR UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAM, AT THE CENTER FOR ASTROPHYSICS, WILL PAIR EIGHT UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS WITH RESEARCHERS IN SOLAR PHYSICS TO WORK ON NOVEL RESEARCH PROJECTS FOR TEN WEEKS IN THE SUMMER. THE PROJECTS WILL COMPRISE SCIENCE PROJECTS INVOLVING DATA ANALYSIS OR NUMERICAL MODELING, AS WELL AS ENGINEERING PROJECTS SUPPORTING ONGOING INSTRUMENTATION PROGRAMS. THE PROGRAM WILL TARGET STUDENTS THAT ARE UNDERGRADUATES IN SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING, AND MATHEMATICS (STEM) DISCIPLINES WITH A PREFERENCE FOR STUDENTS THAT ARE TRADITIONALLY UNDERREPRESENTED IN STEM FIELDS AS WELL AS THOSE FROM INSTITUTIONS WITHOUT STRONG STEM RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES. IN ADDITION TO THE RESEARCH ACTIVITIES, STUDENTS WILL TAKE PART IN LECTURES, TRAINING SESSIONS, AND GROUP ACTIVITIES INTENDED FOR ACADEMIC AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT. STUDENTS WILL PRESENT THE RESULTS FROM THEIR RESEARCH PROJECT AT A PROFESSIONAL SCIENTIFIC CONFERENCE. THE RESEARCH PROJECTS WILL BROADLY CONTRIBUTE TO OUR SCIENTIFIC UNDERSTANDING OF SPACE WEATHER, A SOCIETALLY RELEVANT HAZARD. THE MAIN OBJECTIVES OF THIS REU SITE ARE TO A) FOSTER PARTICIPATION BY WOMEN AND TRADITIONALLY UNDERREPRESENTED GROUPS IN SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH, B) CULTIVATE INDEPENDENCE AND CREATIVITY IN TALENTED AND PROMISING STUDENTS, AND PROMOTE INTEREST IN GRADUATE STUDY IN PHYSICS, ASTRONOMY, AND ENGINEERING, C) DEMONSTRATE HOW ACADEMIC KNOWLEDGE ACQUIRED IN THE CLASSROOM APPLIES TO REAL-WORLD RESEARCH PROBLEMS, D) STRENGTHEN PRACTICAL SKILLS IN DATA ANALYSIS, COMPUTER PROGRAMMING, THEORY, NUMERICAL MODELING, AND COMMUNICATION, E) PREPARE STUDENTS TO MAKE SOUND CHOICES CONCERNING THEIR NEAR-TERM AND LONG-TERM CAREER TRAJECTORIES, F) PROVIDE A HIGH-QUALITY RESEARCH EXPERIENCE THAT WILL PRODUCE NOVEL SCIENTIFIC RESULTS, G) DEVELOP COMPETENCE AND CONFIDENCE IN PRESENTING SCIENTIFIC RESULTS IN A PUBLIC FORUM, AND H) INCREASE AWARENESS OF SOLAR PHYSICS AS A FIELD OF STUDY. THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.

THE HIGH RESOLUTION CORONAL IMAGER: HI-C REFLIGHT

CONTINUING SUPPORT OF TWO ASTRONOMICAL IMAGERS FOR COSMOLOGY, EDUCATION, AND DIVERSE OTHER PROJECTS

23-PIMOVE23-0023 PARTICLE ACCELERATION AT COLLISIONLESS SHOCKS PROPAGATING INTO INHOMOGENEOUS MEDIA

STUDIES OF THE DYNAMICS AND OBSERVABLE PREDICTIONS IN MAGNETIC RECONNECTION REGIONS ARE CRUCIAL TO UNDERSTANDING HOW THE MAGNETIC ENERGY IS QUICKLY TRANSFORMED INTO PLASMA KINETIC ENERGY THERMAL ENERGY AND NON-THERMAL PARTICLE ENERGY

GALAXY CLUSTERS ARE THE LARGEST VIRIALIZED STRUCTURES IN THE UNIVERSE. THEIR SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION AND NUMBER DENSITY CARRIES THE IMPRINT OF THE PROCESS OF STRUCTURE FORMATION AND AS A CONSEQUENCE THESE PROPERTIES ARE SENSITIVE TO THE UNDERLYING COSMOLOGICAL PARAMETERS. IN ORDER TO USE CLUSTER NUMBER COUNTING TO CONSTRAIN THE COSMOLOGICAL PARAMETERS THE TOTAL CLUSTER MASS NEEDS TO BE DETERMINED WITH HIGH PRECISION. MULTI-WAVELENGTH DATA FOR UNBIASED SAMPLES ALLOW US TO SIGNIFICANTLY IMPROVE MASS MEASUREMENTS AND THUS ACCURATELY DETERMINE THE CLUSTER MASS FUNCTION. OUR XMM-HERITAGE PROGRAM WAS AWARDED 3 MS TO STUDY A RIGOROUSLY DEFINED SAMPLE OF CLUSTERS OF GALAXIES DETECTED BY PLANCK THROUGH THEIR SUNYAEV-ZEL'DOVICH EFFECT TO (I) OBTAIN AN ACCURATE VISION OF THE STATISTICAL PROPERTIES OF THE LOCAL CLUSTER POPULATION AND IN THE HIGHEST MASS REGIME; (II) UNCOVER THE PROVENANCE OF NON-GRAVITATIONAL HEATING; (III) MEASURE HOW THEIR GAS IS SHAPED BY THE COLLAPSE INTO DARK MATTER HALOES; (IV) RESOLVE THE MAJOR UNCERTAINTIES IN MASS DETERMINATIONS THAT CURRENTLY LIMIT COSMOLOGICAL INFERENCES; (V) BUILD THE FOUNDATION FOR CLUSTER SCIENCE WITH NEXT-GENERATION SURVEYS. WE HAVE A UNIQUE AND TIMELY OPPORTUNITY TO DEVELOP ALL THE NECESSARY TOOLS TO RESOLVE THE MAJOR UNCERTAINTIES IN THE CLUSTER MASS DETERMINATION THAT ARE CURRENTLY LIMITING COSMOLOGICAL INFERENCES. OUR TEAM BRINGS TOGETHER THE EXPERIENCE AND EXPERTISE OF TOP LEVEL RESEARCHERS FOR THE ANALYSIS OF ARCHIVAL DATA AND OF THE NEWLY AWARDED XMM-NEWTON OBSERVATIONS. HERE WE PROPOSE CLEAR AND DETAILED PROJECTS TO INVESTIGATE NEW METHODS TO ADDRESS SPECIFIC PROBLEMS AND TO DETERMINE THE BEST POSSIBLE ANALYSIS STRATEGY TO APPLY TO THE FINAL CLUSTER SAMPLE THAT WILL PROVIDE A SOUND BASIS TO MEASURE THE ULTIMATE EVOLUTION OF GALAXY CLUSTERS. THIS PROPOSAL WILL SUPPORT THE U.S. PARTICIPATION IN THIS LARGE INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATION. OUR ROLE IN THIS PROJECT WILL BE TO DETERMINE THE CURRENT SYSTEMATIC UNCERTAINTIES IN THE ESTIMATES OF X-RAY MASS AND OTHER GLOBAL PROPERTIES BY COMPARING THE RESULTS FROM DIFFERENT XMM-NEWTON ANALYSIS PIPELINES FOR A SAMPLE OF GALAXY CLUSTERS. THIS ANALYSIS WILL BE CONDUCTED SYSTEMATICALLY AND SELF-CONSISTENTLY ON A WELL DEFINED AND UNBIASED CLUSTER SAMPLE. WE WILL NOT ONLY PROVIDE THE COMMUNITY WITH THE CURRENT LEVEL OF UNCERTAINTIES IN THE X-RAY ANALYSIS BUT ALSO DEVELOP THE BEST AND MOST UP-TO-DATE ANALYSIS METHODS WHICH WILL COMBINE THE MOST ADVANCED APPROACH OF EACH XMM-NEWTON ANALYSIS PIPELINE (E.G. PSF CORRECTION BACKGROUND MODELING DEPROJECTION METHOD). PARTICULAR FOCUS WILL BE DEDICATED TO DEVELOP THE STRATEGY THAT WILL BE APPLIED TO THE NEARBY SYSTEMS THAT REQUIRES THE PARALLEL ANALYSIS OF MULTIPLE OBSERVATIONS. WHILE A CONSISTENT PICTURE OF CLUSTER MASS ESTIMATES WILL BE ACHIEVED FROM THE FINAL SAMPLE BY COMBINING ALL THE MULTI-WAVELENGTH INFORMATION THERE ARE MANY STEPS THAT MUST BE DONE NOW. STARTING FROM WELL-DEFINED HERITAGE CLUSTER SUB-SAMPLES WE WILL EVALUATE THE DIFFERENT BIASES AFFECTING THE SCALING RELATIONS INCLUDING SELECTION EFFECTS THE ROLE OF DISTURBED SYSTEMS AND THE REPRESENTATIVENESS OF DIFFERENT CLUSTER SAMPLES (E.G. SZ AND X-RAY SELECTION). FOR THE FIRST TIME WE PLAN TO INCLUDE IN THIS ANALYSIS ALL THE INFORMATION (E.G. FLUCTUATION AND SCATTER LEVELS) ABOUT THE CLUSTER DYNAMICAL STATES THAT IS EMBODIED IN THE THERMODYNAMICAL 2D MAPS. WE WILL PERFORM A SIMULTANEOUS ANALYSIS OF XMM-NEWTON AND PLANCK DATA BY ADAPTING JACO A CODE EMPLOYING PARAMETRIC MODELS FOR BOTH THE DARK-MATTER DENSITY AND GAS DENSITY INTO THE FITTING PROCEDURE TO THE XMM-NEWTON DATA AND TAKE INTO ACCOUNT UPDATED BACKGROUND AND PSF TREATMENTS AND CALIBRATIONS.

EXECUTE A BALANCED SCIENCE PROGRAM BASED ON DISCIPLINE-SPECIFIC GUIDANCE FROM THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES OF SCIENCES ENGINEERING AND MEDICINE ADMINISTRATION PRIORITIES AND DIRECTION FROM CONGRESS. PARTICIPATE AS A KEY PARTNER AND ENABLER IN THE AGENCY S EXPLORATION INITIATIVE FOCUSING ON SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH OF ON AND FROM THE MOON LUNAR ORBIT MARS AND BEYOND. ADVANCE DISCOVERY IN EMERGING FIELDS BY IDENTIFYING AND EXPLOITING CROSS-DISCIPLINARY OPPORTUNITIES BETWEEN TRADITIONAL SCIENCE DISCIPLINES DEVELOP A DIRECTORATE-WIDE TARGET-USER FOCUSED APPROACH TO APPLIED PROGRAMS INCLUDING EARTH SCIENCE APPLICATIONS SPACE WEATHER PLANETARY DEFENSE AND SPACE SITUATIONAL AWARENESS.