The Collier Report of U.S. Government Contracting

Sampling of Federal Government Funding Actions/Set Asides

In order by amount of set aside monies.

• $23,900 - Wednesday the 8th of April 2015
  National Aeronautics And Space Administration
  NASA SHARED SERVICES CENTER
  IN RECENT YEARS, THE RAPID PACE OF EXOPLANET DISCOVERIES HAS BROUGHT THE EXCITING GOAL OF FINDING HABITABLE PLANETS (OR "EXOEARTHS") AND PROBING THEM FOR SIGNS OF EXTRATERRESTRIAL LIFE WITHIN REACH. ACHIEVING THIS GOAL IS STILL DIFFICULT AND WILL REQUIRE VERY HIGH CONTRAST TO IMAGE THE PLANETS AND OBTAIN DIRECT SPECTRA OF THEIR ATMOSPHERES. SEVERAL DESIGNS FOR LARGE SPACE TELESCOPES WITH THESE CAPABILITIES ARE IN DEVELOPMENT. HOWEVER, THESE EFFORTS ARE HAMPERED BY UNKNOWNS ABOUT THE TARGET SYSTEMS, INCLUDING THE FRACTION OF STARS WITH TERRESTRIAL PLANETS IN THEIR HABITABLE ZONES (ETA_EARTH) AND THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE EXOZODIACAL DUST IN THE SYSTEM. MISSION PERFORMANCE IS TYPICALLY EVALUATED USING A SINGLE MODEL FOR THE TARGET SYSTEM (I.E. THE SOLAR SYSTEM AT 10 PARSECS). TO PROPERLY PREPARE FOR FUTURE EXOEARTH OBSERVATIONS, WE MUST BETTER DEFINE THE CHALLENGE, USING THE KNOWLEDGE GAINED THROUGH TWO DECADES OF EXTRASOLAR PLANETARY STUDIES. WE PROPOSE THE FIRST TRULY REALISTIC SIMULATIONS OF EXOEARTH IMAGES AND DIRECT SPECTRA, IN ORDER TO RIGOROUSLY INVESTIGATE THE COMPLEX SOURCES OF NOISE AND CONFUSION THAT WILL INEVITABLY BE PRESENT. THE FIRST STEP WILL BE PRODUCING A DIVERSE SUITE OF DETAILED PLANETARY SYSTEM MODELS. THEY WILL INCLUDE SEVERAL DIFFERENT PLANET TYPES, AS WELL AS A BROAD RANGE OF STELLAR TYPES THAT ENCOMPASSES ALL THE MOST LIKELY TARGET STARS FOR FUTURE EXOEARTH OBSERVATIONS (F, G, K,&M STARS). EXOZODIACAL DUST (OR "EXOZODI"), EXPECTED TO BE THE LARGEST SOURCE OF NOISE IN DIRECT OBSERVATIONS OF TERRESTRIAL PLANETS, WILL BE CAREFULLY HANDLED. THE MODELS WILL INCORPORATE A RANGE OF PLAUSIBLE EXOZODI STRUCTURES, BRIGHTNESS LEVELS, AND COLORS. WE WILL EVALUATE THE EXPECTED FREQUENCIES OF ALL POTENTIAL SOURCES OF CONFUSION (E.G. BACKGROUND GALAXIES AND STARS, EXOZODI CLUMPS, NON-HABITABLE PLANETS, COMETS) AND REALISTICALLY SEED THEM INTO THE MODELS. THE SECOND STEP WILL BE USING THE MODELS TO CREATE SIMULATED EXOEARTH OBSERVATIONS, THEN TESTING DATA ANALYSIS TECHNIQUES AND CHARACTERIZING POSSIBLE SYSTEMATIC ERRORS. FINALLY, WE WILL EXAMINE THE SEVERITY OF THE VARIOUS SOURCES OF CONFUSION AND DEVELOP OBSERVING STRATEGIES TO REMOVE THEM.

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