Through the Center Innovation Fund, the Space Technology Mission Directorate allocates a small portion of the NASA workforce and procurement budget to internal research and development to feed early stage innovation in technology and exploration. Activities with in the Center Innovation Fund are proposed and led by NASA scientists and engineers. These activities and creative initiatives pursue emerging technologies that leverage talent and capabilities at the NASA Centers.
","parentProgram":{"ableToSelect":false,"isActive":true,"description":"Catalyst is a portfolio of early stage programs that specialize in different innovation constituencies and mechanisms to push the state of the art in aerospace technology development","programId":92327,"responsibleMd":{"canUserEdit":false,"locationEdit":false,"organizationRolePretty":"","organizationTypePretty":""},"title":"Catalyst","manageGaps":false,"acronymOrTitle":"Catalyst"},"parentProgramId":92327,"programId":64,"responsibleMd":{"canUserEdit":false,"locationEdit":false,"organizationRolePretty":"","organizationTypePretty":""},"stockImageFileId":36643,"title":"Center Innovation Fund","manageGaps":false,"acronymOrTitle":"CIF"},"parentProgramId":64,"programId":160,"responsibleMd":{"organizationId":4875,"organizationName":"Space Technology Mission Directorate","acronym":"STMD","organizationType":"NASA_Mission_Directorate","canUserEdit":false,"locationEdit":false,"organizationRolePretty":"","organizationTypePretty":"NASA Mission Directorate"},"responsibleMdOffice":4875,"stockImageFileId":36646,"title":"Center Innovation Fund: ARC CIF","manageGaps":false,"acronymOrTitle":"ARC CIF"},"description":"
Almost all proposed space coronagraph instruments for directly imaging exoplanets need wavefront estimation and control. Our project provided a new way of doing wavefront estimation. Similar to existing methods, our method uses a Deformable Mirror (DM) to provide sufficient and controlled diversity to enable reliable coronagraph phase retrieval. However, our key innovation is taht we do it without relying on the model of the DM. Our recovers both phase and amplitude of the pupil/Lyot plane by using a sequence of randomly aberrated partially-correlated focal plane images. In our case random optical aberrations are produced artificially by the DM and caused naturally by long term optical instability of the system.
","benefits":"This work directly supports the Agency exoplanet exploration priorities, and in particular missions to directly image exoplanets, such as WFIRST, LUVOIR, and HabEx, as well as potential Explorer-class missions.
","releaseStatus":"Released","status":"Completed","viewCount":595,"destinationType":[],"trlBegin":3,"trlCurrent":4,"trlEnd":4,"lastUpdated":"12/18/25","favorited":false,"detailedFunding":false,"projectContacts":[{"contactId":415772,"canUserEdit":false,"firstName":"Ruslan","lastName":"Belikov","fullName":"Ruslan Belikov","fullNameInverted":"Belikov, Ruslan","email":"ruslan.belikov-1@nasa.gov","receiveEmail":"Subscribed_User","projectContactRole":"Principal_Investigator","projectContactId":548306,"projectId":94132,"programContactRolePretty":"","projectContactRolePretty":"Principal Investigator"}],"programContacts":[],"leadOrganization":{"organizationId":4941,"organizationName":"Ames Research Center","acronym":"ARC","organizationType":"NASA_Center","city":"Moffett Field","stateTerritoryId":59,"stateTerritory":{"abbreviation":"CA","country":{"abbreviation":"US","countryId":236,"name":"United States"},"countryId":236,"name":"California","stateTerritoryId":59,"isTerritory":false},"country":{"abbreviation":"US","countryId":236,"name":"United States"},"countryId":236,"zipCode":"94035","projectId":94132,"projectOrganizationId":576225,"organizationRole":"Lead_Organization","canUserEdit":false,"locationEdit":false,"organizationRolePretty":"Lead Organization","organizationTypePretty":"NASA Center"},"otherOrganizations":[{"organizationId":4941,"organizationName":"Ames Research Center","acronym":"ARC","organizationType":"NASA_Center","city":"Moffett Field","stateTerritoryId":59,"stateTerritory":{"abbreviation":"CA","country":{"abbreviation":"US","countryId":236,"name":"United States"},"countryId":236,"name":"California","stateTerritoryId":59,"isTerritory":false},"country":{"abbreviation":"US","countryId":236,"name":"United States"},"countryId":236,"zipCode":"94035","projectId":94132,"projectOrganizationId":576225,"organizationRole":"Lead_Organization","canUserEdit":false,"locationEdit":false,"organizationRolePretty":"Lead Organization","organizationTypePretty":"NASA Center"}],"primaryTx":{"taxonomyNodeId":11217,"taxonomyRootId":8817,"parentNodeId":11216,"code":"TX08.1.1","title":"Detectors and Focal Planes","description":"Detectors, focal planes, and readout integrated circuits (ROICs) provide large-format array technologies that require high quantum efficiency (QE); low noise, high resolution, uniform, and stable response; low power and cost; and high reliability. These technologies include low-noise, high-speed, low-power, and radiation hardened ROIC electronics; superconducting sensors; spectral detectors; polarization-sensitive detectors; radiation-hardened detectors; and micro-Kelvin and sub-Kelvin high sensitivity detectors that cover the spectrum from submillimeter wave (Far-IR) to X-ray.","exampleTechnologies":"Backshort Undergrid bolometer arrays, Mercury Cadmium Telluride and Strained Superlattice Arrays, charge coupled devices, sidecar readout integrated circuits, radiometric calibration and abnormality correction algorithms (e.g. non-uniformity)","level":3,"hasChildren":false,"selected":false,"isPrimary":true,"hasInteriorContent":true},"primaryTxTree":[[{"taxonomyNodeId":11215,"taxonomyRootId":8817,"code":"TX08","title":"Sensors and Instruments","level":1,"hasChildren":true,"selected":false,"hasInteriorContent":true},{"taxonomyNodeId":11216,"taxonomyRootId":8817,"parentNodeId":11215,"code":"TX08.1","title":"Remote Sensing Instruments and Sensors","description":"Remote sensing instruments and sensors include components, sensors, and instruments that are sensitive to electromagnetic radiation; particles (charged, neutral, dust); electromagnetic fields, both direct current (DC) and alternating current (AC); acoustic energy; seismic energy; and whatever physical phenomenology the science requires. These instruments and sensors can be active or passive devices, depending on the measurement regime and detection technology.","level":2,"hasChildren":true,"selected":false,"hasInteriorContent":true},{"taxonomyNodeId":11217,"taxonomyRootId":8817,"parentNodeId":11216,"code":"TX08.1.1","title":"Detectors and Focal Planes","description":"Detectors, focal planes, and readout integrated circuits (ROICs) provide large-format array technologies that require high quantum efficiency (QE); low noise, high resolution, uniform, and stable response; low power and cost; and high reliability. These technologies include low-noise, high-speed, low-power, and radiation hardened ROIC electronics; superconducting sensors; spectral detectors; polarization-sensitive detectors; radiation-hardened detectors; and micro-Kelvin and sub-Kelvin high sensitivity detectors that cover the spectrum from submillimeter wave (Far-IR) to X-ray.","exampleTechnologies":"Backshort Undergrid bolometer arrays, Mercury Cadmium Telluride and Strained Superlattice Arrays, charge coupled devices, sidecar readout integrated circuits, radiometric calibration and abnormality correction algorithms (e.g. non-uniformity)","level":3,"hasChildren":false,"selected":true,"hasInteriorContent":true}]],"technologyOutcomes":[{"technologyOutcomeId":97811,"projectId":94132,"project":{"projectId":94132,"title":"Integrated Focal Plane Wavefront Estimating for Space Mission Coronagraphs","startDate":"2017-10-01","startYear":2017,"startMonth":10,"endDate":"2018-09-30","endYear":2018,"endMonth":9,"programId":160,"program":{"ableToSelect":false,"acronym":"ARC CIF","isActive":true,"description":"Through the Center Innovation Fund, the Space Technology Mission Directorate allocates a small portion of the NASA workforce and procurement budget to internal research and development to feed early stage innovation in technology and exploration. Activities with in the Center Innovation Fund are proposed and led by NASA scientists and engineers. These activities and creative initiatives pursue emerging technologies that leverage talent and capabilities at the NASA Centers. ","parentProgram":{"ableToSelect":false,"acronym":"CIF","isActive":true,"description":"Through the Center Innovation Fund, the Space Technology Mission Directorate allocates a small portion of the NASA workforce and procurement budget to internal research and development to feed early stage innovation in technology and exploration. Activities with in the Center Innovation Fund are proposed and led by NASA scientists and engineers. These activities and creative initiatives pursue emerging technologies that leverage talent and capabilities at the NASA Centers.
","parentProgram":{"ableToSelect":false,"isActive":true,"description":"Catalyst is a portfolio of early stage programs that specialize in different innovation constituencies and mechanisms to push the state of the art in aerospace technology development","programId":92327,"responsibleMd":{"canUserEdit":false,"locationEdit":false,"organizationRolePretty":"","organizationTypePretty":""},"title":"Catalyst","manageGaps":false,"acronymOrTitle":"Catalyst"},"parentProgramId":92327,"programId":64,"responsibleMd":{"canUserEdit":false,"locationEdit":false,"organizationRolePretty":"","organizationTypePretty":""},"stockImageFileId":36643,"title":"Center Innovation Fund","manageGaps":false,"acronymOrTitle":"CIF"},"parentProgramId":64,"programId":160,"responsibleMd":{"organizationId":4875,"organizationName":"Space Technology Mission Directorate","acronym":"STMD","organizationType":"NASA_Mission_Directorate","canUserEdit":false,"locationEdit":false,"organizationRolePretty":"","organizationTypePretty":"NASA Mission Directorate"},"responsibleMdOffice":4875,"stockImageFileId":36646,"title":"Center Innovation Fund: ARC CIF","manageGaps":false,"acronymOrTitle":"ARC CIF"},"description":"
Almost all proposed space coronagraph instruments for directly imaging exoplanets need wavefront estimation and control. Our project provided a new way of doing wavefront estimation. Similar to existing methods, our method uses a Deformable Mirror (DM) to provide sufficient and controlled diversity to enable reliable coronagraph phase retrieval. However, our key innovation is taht we do it without relying on the model of the DM. Our recovers both phase and amplitude of the pupil/Lyot plane by using a sequence of randomly aberrated partially-correlated focal plane images. In our case random optical aberrations are produced artificially by the DM and caused naturally by long term optical instability of the system.
","benefits":"This work directly supports the Agency exoplanet exploration priorities, and in particular missions to directly image exoplanets, such as WFIRST, LUVOIR, and HabEx, as well as potential Explorer-class missions.
","releaseStatus":"Released","status":"Completed","destinationType":[],"trlBegin":3,"trlCurrent":4,"trlEnd":4,"favorited":false,"detailedFunding":false,"programContacts":[],"endDateString":"Sep 2018","startDateString":"Oct 2017"},"relatedProjectId":93207,"relatedProject":{"projectId":93207,"title":"Focal plane wavefront estimation for space mission coronagraphs.","startDate":"2016-10-01","startYear":2016,"startMonth":10,"endDate":"2017-07-01","endYear":2017,"endMonth":7,"programId":160,"program":{"ableToSelect":false,"acronym":"ARC CIF","isActive":true,"description":"Through the Center Innovation Fund, the Space Technology Mission Directorate allocates a small portion of the NASA workforce and procurement budget to internal research and development to feed early stage innovation in technology and exploration. Activities with in the Center Innovation Fund are proposed and led by NASA scientists and engineers. These activities and creative initiatives pursue emerging technologies that leverage talent and capabilities at the NASA Centers. ","parentProgram":{"ableToSelect":false,"acronym":"CIF","isActive":true,"description":"Through the Center Innovation Fund, the Space Technology Mission Directorate allocates a small portion of the NASA workforce and procurement budget to internal research and development to feed early stage innovation in technology and exploration. Activities with in the Center Innovation Fund are proposed and led by NASA scientists and engineers. These activities and creative initiatives pursue emerging technologies that leverage talent and capabilities at the NASA Centers.
","parentProgram":{"ableToSelect":false,"isActive":true,"description":"Catalyst is a portfolio of early stage programs that specialize in different innovation constituencies and mechanisms to push the state of the art in aerospace technology development","programId":92327,"responsibleMd":{"canUserEdit":false,"locationEdit":false,"organizationRolePretty":"","organizationTypePretty":""},"title":"Catalyst","manageGaps":false,"acronymOrTitle":"Catalyst"},"parentProgramId":92327,"programId":64,"responsibleMd":{"canUserEdit":false,"locationEdit":false,"organizationRolePretty":"","organizationTypePretty":""},"stockImageFileId":36643,"title":"Center Innovation Fund","manageGaps":false,"acronymOrTitle":"CIF"},"parentProgramId":64,"programId":160,"responsibleMd":{"organizationId":4875,"organizationName":"Space Technology Mission Directorate","acronym":"STMD","organizationType":"NASA_Mission_Directorate","canUserEdit":false,"locationEdit":false,"organizationRolePretty":"","organizationTypePretty":"NASA Mission Directorate"},"responsibleMdOffice":4875,"stockImageFileId":36646,"title":"Center Innovation Fund: ARC CIF","manageGaps":false,"acronymOrTitle":"ARC CIF"},"description":"
As part of the FY17 CIF effort, we have developed a novel method that uses a set of unknown random correlated pupil plane aberrations to obtain a high accuracy estimate of wavefront errors in an optical system.
","benefits":"Our proposed method uses a deformable mirror (DM) or any other source of random optical wavefront modulation (such as atmospheric turbulence) in an optical system to provide a high accuracy estimation of wavefront aberrations. Our solution does not require any additional optical elements and is free from non-common optical path errors. This benefit is especially important for exoplanet imaging space missions, because it allows us to simplify the layout of the coronagraph and improves the accuracy of the coronagraph model.
","releaseStatus":"Released","status":"Completed","destinationType":[],"trlBegin":1,"trlCurrent":3,"trlEnd":3,"favorited":false,"detailedFunding":false,"programContacts":[],"endDateString":"Jul 2017","startDateString":"Oct 2016"},"technologyOutcomePartner":"Other","technologyOutcomeDate":"2017-10-01","technologyOutcomePath":"Advanced_From","infoText":"Advanced from another project within the program","infoTextExtra":"Another project within the program (Focal plane wavefront estimation for space mission coronagraphs.)","isIndirect":false,"infusionPretty":"","isBiDirectional":true,"technologyOutcomeDateString":"Oct 2017","technologyOutcomeDateFullString":"October 2017","technologyOutcomePartnerPretty":"Other","technologyOutcomePathPretty":"Advanced From","technologyOutcomeRationalePretty":""},{"technologyOutcomeId":97810,"projectId":94132,"project":{"projectId":94132,"title":"Integrated Focal Plane Wavefront Estimating for Space Mission Coronagraphs","startDate":"2017-10-01","startYear":2017,"startMonth":10,"endDate":"2018-09-30","endYear":2018,"endMonth":9,"programId":160,"program":{"ableToSelect":false,"acronym":"ARC CIF","isActive":true,"description":"Through the Center Innovation Fund, the Space Technology Mission Directorate allocates a small portion of the NASA workforce and procurement budget to internal research and development to feed early stage innovation in technology and exploration. Activities with in the Center Innovation Fund are proposed and led by NASA scientists and engineers. These activities and creative initiatives pursue emerging technologies that leverage talent and capabilities at the NASA Centers. ","parentProgram":{"ableToSelect":false,"acronym":"CIF","isActive":true,"description":"Through the Center Innovation Fund, the Space Technology Mission Directorate allocates a small portion of the NASA workforce and procurement budget to internal research and development to feed early stage innovation in technology and exploration. Activities with in the Center Innovation Fund are proposed and led by NASA scientists and engineers. These activities and creative initiatives pursue emerging technologies that leverage talent and capabilities at the NASA Centers.
","parentProgram":{"ableToSelect":false,"isActive":true,"description":"Catalyst is a portfolio of early stage programs that specialize in different innovation constituencies and mechanisms to push the state of the art in aerospace technology development","programId":92327,"responsibleMd":{"canUserEdit":false,"locationEdit":false,"organizationRolePretty":"","organizationTypePretty":""},"title":"Catalyst","manageGaps":false,"acronymOrTitle":"Catalyst"},"parentProgramId":92327,"programId":64,"responsibleMd":{"canUserEdit":false,"locationEdit":false,"organizationRolePretty":"","organizationTypePretty":""},"stockImageFileId":36643,"title":"Center Innovation Fund","manageGaps":false,"acronymOrTitle":"CIF"},"parentProgramId":64,"programId":160,"responsibleMd":{"organizationId":4875,"organizationName":"Space Technology Mission Directorate","acronym":"STMD","organizationType":"NASA_Mission_Directorate","canUserEdit":false,"locationEdit":false,"organizationRolePretty":"","organizationTypePretty":"NASA Mission Directorate"},"responsibleMdOffice":4875,"stockImageFileId":36646,"title":"Center Innovation Fund: ARC CIF","manageGaps":false,"acronymOrTitle":"ARC CIF"},"description":"
Almost all proposed space coronagraph instruments for directly imaging exoplanets need wavefront estimation and control. Our project provided a new way of doing wavefront estimation. Similar to existing methods, our method uses a Deformable Mirror (DM) to provide sufficient and controlled diversity to enable reliable coronagraph phase retrieval. However, our key innovation is taht we do it without relying on the model of the DM. Our recovers both phase and amplitude of the pupil/Lyot plane by using a sequence of randomly aberrated partially-correlated focal plane images. In our case random optical aberrations are produced artificially by the DM and caused naturally by long term optical instability of the system.
","benefits":"This work directly supports the Agency exoplanet exploration priorities, and in particular missions to directly image exoplanets, such as WFIRST, LUVOIR, and HabEx, as well as potential Explorer-class missions.
","releaseStatus":"Released","status":"Completed","destinationType":[],"trlBegin":3,"trlCurrent":4,"trlEnd":4,"favorited":false,"detailedFunding":false,"programContacts":[],"endDateString":"Sep 2018","startDateString":"Oct 2017"},"technologyOutcomeDate":"2018-09-30","technologyOutcomePath":"Closed_Out","details":"This work addresses one of the critical challenges for starlight suppression in missions to directly image exoplanets: wavefront error estimation. Current methods rely on moving parts or an accurate system model. Our method provides a wavefront error estimate with no moving parts, and no need for a system model. This makes it lower cost and robust to model errors. Ultimately, it can lead to greater performance and science yield on missions to directly image exoplanets. We demonstrated static and dynamic error wavefront reconstruction in a coronagraphic system (PIAA coronagraph) in the lab, advancing the TRL to ~4.","infoText":"Closed out","infoTextExtra":"Project closed out","isIndirect":false,"infusionPretty":"","isBiDirectional":false,"technologyOutcomeDateString":"Sep 2018","technologyOutcomeDateFullString":"September 2018","technologyOutcomePartnerPretty":"","technologyOutcomePathPretty":"Closed Out","technologyOutcomeRationalePretty":""},{"technologyOutcomeId":97809,"projectId":94132,"project":{"projectId":94132,"title":"Integrated Focal Plane Wavefront Estimating for Space Mission Coronagraphs","startDate":"2017-10-01","startYear":2017,"startMonth":10,"endDate":"2018-09-30","endYear":2018,"endMonth":9,"programId":160,"program":{"ableToSelect":false,"acronym":"ARC CIF","isActive":true,"description":"Through the Center Innovation Fund, the Space Technology Mission Directorate allocates a small portion of the NASA workforce and procurement budget to internal research and development to feed early stage innovation in technology and exploration. Activities with in the Center Innovation Fund are proposed and led by NASA scientists and engineers. These activities and creative initiatives pursue emerging technologies that leverage talent and capabilities at the NASA Centers. ","parentProgram":{"ableToSelect":false,"acronym":"CIF","isActive":true,"description":"Through the Center Innovation Fund, the Space Technology Mission Directorate allocates a small portion of the NASA workforce and procurement budget to internal research and development to feed early stage innovation in technology and exploration. Activities with in the Center Innovation Fund are proposed and led by NASA scientists and engineers. These activities and creative initiatives pursue emerging technologies that leverage talent and capabilities at the NASA Centers.
","parentProgram":{"ableToSelect":false,"isActive":true,"description":"Catalyst is a portfolio of early stage programs that specialize in different innovation constituencies and mechanisms to push the state of the art in aerospace technology development","programId":92327,"responsibleMd":{"canUserEdit":false,"locationEdit":false,"organizationRolePretty":"","organizationTypePretty":""},"title":"Catalyst","manageGaps":false,"acronymOrTitle":"Catalyst"},"parentProgramId":92327,"programId":64,"responsibleMd":{"canUserEdit":false,"locationEdit":false,"organizationRolePretty":"","organizationTypePretty":""},"stockImageFileId":36643,"title":"Center Innovation Fund","manageGaps":false,"acronymOrTitle":"CIF"},"parentProgramId":64,"programId":160,"responsibleMd":{"organizationId":4875,"organizationName":"Space Technology Mission Directorate","acronym":"STMD","organizationType":"NASA_Mission_Directorate","canUserEdit":false,"locationEdit":false,"organizationRolePretty":"","organizationTypePretty":"NASA Mission Directorate"},"responsibleMdOffice":4875,"stockImageFileId":36646,"title":"Center Innovation Fund: ARC CIF","manageGaps":false,"acronymOrTitle":"ARC CIF"},"description":"
Almost all proposed space coronagraph instruments for directly imaging exoplanets need wavefront estimation and control. Our project provided a new way of doing wavefront estimation. Similar to existing methods, our method uses a Deformable Mirror (DM) to provide sufficient and controlled diversity to enable reliable coronagraph phase retrieval. However, our key innovation is taht we do it without relying on the model of the DM. Our recovers both phase and amplitude of the pupil/Lyot plane by using a sequence of randomly aberrated partially-correlated focal plane images. In our case random optical aberrations are produced artificially by the DM and caused naturally by long term optical instability of the system.
","benefits":"This work directly supports the Agency exoplanet exploration priorities, and in particular missions to directly image exoplanets, such as WFIRST, LUVOIR, and HabEx, as well as potential Explorer-class missions.
","releaseStatus":"Released","status":"Completed","destinationType":[],"trlBegin":3,"trlCurrent":4,"trlEnd":4,"favorited":false,"detailedFunding":false,"programContacts":[],"endDateString":"Sep 2018","startDateString":"Oct 2017"},"relatedProjectId":95697,"relatedProject":{"projectId":95697,"title":"Sparse Wavefront Control: A New approach to exoplanet high-contrast imaging","startDate":"2018-10-01","startYear":2018,"startMonth":10,"endDate":"2019-09-30","endYear":2019,"endMonth":9,"programId":160,"program":{"ableToSelect":false,"acronym":"ARC CIF","isActive":true,"description":"Through the Center Innovation Fund, the Space Technology Mission Directorate allocates a small portion of the NASA workforce and procurement budget to internal research and development to feed early stage innovation in technology and exploration. Activities with in the Center Innovation Fund are proposed and led by NASA scientists and engineers. These activities and creative initiatives pursue emerging technologies that leverage talent and capabilities at the NASA Centers. ","parentProgram":{"ableToSelect":false,"acronym":"CIF","isActive":true,"description":"Through the Center Innovation Fund, the Space Technology Mission Directorate allocates a small portion of the NASA workforce and procurement budget to internal research and development to feed early stage innovation in technology and exploration. Activities with in the Center Innovation Fund are proposed and led by NASA scientists and engineers. These activities and creative initiatives pursue emerging technologies that leverage talent and capabilities at the NASA Centers.
","parentProgram":{"ableToSelect":false,"isActive":true,"description":"Catalyst is a portfolio of early stage programs that specialize in different innovation constituencies and mechanisms to push the state of the art in aerospace technology development","programId":92327,"responsibleMd":{"canUserEdit":false,"locationEdit":false,"organizationRolePretty":"","organizationTypePretty":""},"title":"Catalyst","manageGaps":false,"acronymOrTitle":"Catalyst"},"parentProgramId":92327,"programId":64,"responsibleMd":{"canUserEdit":false,"locationEdit":false,"organizationRolePretty":"","organizationTypePretty":""},"stockImageFileId":36643,"title":"Center Innovation Fund","manageGaps":false,"acronymOrTitle":"CIF"},"parentProgramId":64,"programId":160,"responsibleMd":{"organizationId":4875,"organizationName":"Space Technology Mission Directorate","acronym":"STMD","organizationType":"NASA_Mission_Directorate","canUserEdit":false,"locationEdit":false,"organizationRolePretty":"","organizationTypePretty":"NASA Mission Directorate"},"responsibleMdOffice":4875,"stockImageFileId":36646,"title":"Center Innovation Fund: ARC CIF","manageGaps":false,"acronymOrTitle":"ARC CIF"},"description":"The approach is to demonstrate the concept in the Ames Coronagraph Experiment (ACE) laboratory utilizing the second ACE optical bench that it is currently equipped with a PIAA coronagraph and a Kilo DM. Since a sparse DM does not exist yet, sparse DM functionality is emulated using a normal 32x32 BMC Kilo DM and actuate one of every 3 actuators. The rest of the actuators are commanded to stay flat. The effective result is a 10x10 actuator sparse DM with a fill factor of approximately 10%. A proven speckle nulling algorithm is run to execute wavefront control and apply the correction to the emulated Sparse DM. In parallel, the same system is simulated using the Ames super computer to have a comparison between our models and laboratory performance, to validate the models, and to identify and eliminate hardware limiting factors.","benefits":"Current high-contrast imaging systems for detection of exoplanets implement wavefront control using traditional deformable mirrors (DM) developed for atmospheric turbulence correction, which require large strokes, high-speed, and continuous phase correction. However, high-contrast imaging has different requirements. Thus, developing a specialized DM for this application would enable meeting demanding requirements for future exoplanet imaging flagship missions, such as 128x128 actuator DMs, which are currently not available. This work aims to advance the Sparse Wave Front Control and demonstrate it in the laboratory, validating the simulations. We demonstrated a new technique which promises to improve direct imaging of exoplanets on space telescope missions. The technique is called Sparse Wavefront Control (SWFC). It was demonstrated in the lab at the Ames Coronagraph Experiment (ACE), with validated simulations ran on the Ames supercomputer, bringing this tech nology to TRL 3. ","releaseStatus":"Released","status":"Completed","destinationType":[],"trlBegin":2,"trlCurrent":3,"trlEnd":3,"favorited":false,"detailedFunding":false,"programContacts":[],"endDateString":"Sep 2019","startDateString":"Oct 2018"},"technologyOutcomePartner":"Other","technologyOutcomeDate":"2018-10-01","technologyOutcomePath":"Advanced_To","infoText":"Advanced within the program","infoTextExtra":"Another project within the program (Sparse Wavefront Control: A New approach to exoplanet high-contrast imaging)","isIndirect":false,"infusionPretty":"","isBiDirectional":true,"technologyOutcomeDateString":"Oct 2018","technologyOutcomeDateFullString":"October 2018","technologyOutcomePartnerPretty":"Other","technologyOutcomePathPretty":"Advanced To","technologyOutcomeRationalePretty":""},{"technologyOutcomeId":96976,"projectId":94132,"project":{"projectId":94132,"title":"Integrated Focal Plane Wavefront Estimating for Space Mission Coronagraphs","startDate":"2017-10-01","startYear":2017,"startMonth":10,"endDate":"2018-09-30","endYear":2018,"endMonth":9,"programId":160,"program":{"ableToSelect":false,"acronym":"ARC CIF","isActive":true,"description":"Through the Center Innovation Fund, the Space Technology Mission Directorate allocates a small portion of the NASA workforce and procurement budget to internal research and development to feed early stage innovation in technology and exploration. Activities with in the Center Innovation Fund are proposed and led by NASA scientists and engineers. These activities and creative initiatives pursue emerging technologies that leverage talent and capabilities at the NASA Centers. ","parentProgram":{"ableToSelect":false,"acronym":"CIF","isActive":true,"description":"
Through the Center Innovation Fund, the Space Technology Mission Directorate allocates a small portion of the NASA workforce and procurement budget to internal research and development to feed early stage innovation in technology and exploration. Activities with in the Center Innovation Fund are proposed and led by NASA scientists and engineers. These activities and creative initiatives pursue emerging technologies that leverage talent and capabilities at the NASA Centers.
","parentProgram":{"ableToSelect":false,"isActive":true,"description":"Catalyst is a portfolio of early stage programs that specialize in different innovation constituencies and mechanisms to push the state of the art in aerospace technology development","programId":92327,"responsibleMd":{"canUserEdit":false,"locationEdit":false,"organizationRolePretty":"","organizationTypePretty":""},"title":"Catalyst","manageGaps":false,"acronymOrTitle":"Catalyst"},"parentProgramId":92327,"programId":64,"responsibleMd":{"canUserEdit":false,"locationEdit":false,"organizationRolePretty":"","organizationTypePretty":""},"stockImageFileId":36643,"title":"Center Innovation Fund","manageGaps":false,"acronymOrTitle":"CIF"},"parentProgramId":64,"programId":160,"responsibleMd":{"organizationId":4875,"organizationName":"Space Technology Mission Directorate","acronym":"STMD","organizationType":"NASA_Mission_Directorate","canUserEdit":false,"locationEdit":false,"organizationRolePretty":"","organizationTypePretty":"NASA Mission Directorate"},"responsibleMdOffice":4875,"stockImageFileId":36646,"title":"Center Innovation Fund: ARC CIF","manageGaps":false,"acronymOrTitle":"ARC CIF"},"description":"
Almost all proposed space coronagraph instruments for directly imaging exoplanets need wavefront estimation and control. Our project provided a new way of doing wavefront estimation. Similar to existing methods, our method uses a Deformable Mirror (DM) to provide sufficient and controlled diversity to enable reliable coronagraph phase retrieval. However, our key innovation is taht we do it without relying on the model of the DM. Our recovers both phase and amplitude of the pupil/Lyot plane by using a sequence of randomly aberrated partially-correlated focal plane images. In our case random optical aberrations are produced artificially by the DM and caused naturally by long term optical instability of the system.
","benefits":"This work directly supports the Agency exoplanet exploration priorities, and in particular missions to directly image exoplanets, such as WFIRST, LUVOIR, and HabEx, as well as potential Explorer-class missions.
","releaseStatus":"Released","status":"Completed","destinationType":[],"trlBegin":3,"trlCurrent":4,"trlEnd":4,"favorited":false,"detailedFunding":false,"programContacts":[],"endDateString":"Sep 2018","startDateString":"Oct 2017"},"relatedProjectId":93207,"relatedProject":{"projectId":93207,"title":"Focal plane wavefront estimation for space mission coronagraphs.","startDate":"2016-10-01","startYear":2016,"startMonth":10,"endDate":"2017-07-01","endYear":2017,"endMonth":7,"programId":160,"program":{"ableToSelect":false,"acronym":"ARC CIF","isActive":true,"description":"Through the Center Innovation Fund, the Space Technology Mission Directorate allocates a small portion of the NASA workforce and procurement budget to internal research and development to feed early stage innovation in technology and exploration. Activities with in the Center Innovation Fund are proposed and led by NASA scientists and engineers. These activities and creative initiatives pursue emerging technologies that leverage talent and capabilities at the NASA Centers. ","parentProgram":{"ableToSelect":false,"acronym":"CIF","isActive":true,"description":"Through the Center Innovation Fund, the Space Technology Mission Directorate allocates a small portion of the NASA workforce and procurement budget to internal research and development to feed early stage innovation in technology and exploration. Activities with in the Center Innovation Fund are proposed and led by NASA scientists and engineers. These activities and creative initiatives pursue emerging technologies that leverage talent and capabilities at the NASA Centers.
","parentProgram":{"ableToSelect":false,"isActive":true,"description":"Catalyst is a portfolio of early stage programs that specialize in different innovation constituencies and mechanisms to push the state of the art in aerospace technology development","programId":92327,"responsibleMd":{"canUserEdit":false,"locationEdit":false,"organizationRolePretty":"","organizationTypePretty":""},"title":"Catalyst","manageGaps":false,"acronymOrTitle":"Catalyst"},"parentProgramId":92327,"programId":64,"responsibleMd":{"canUserEdit":false,"locationEdit":false,"organizationRolePretty":"","organizationTypePretty":""},"stockImageFileId":36643,"title":"Center Innovation Fund","manageGaps":false,"acronymOrTitle":"CIF"},"parentProgramId":64,"programId":160,"responsibleMd":{"organizationId":4875,"organizationName":"Space Technology Mission Directorate","acronym":"STMD","organizationType":"NASA_Mission_Directorate","canUserEdit":false,"locationEdit":false,"organizationRolePretty":"","organizationTypePretty":"NASA Mission Directorate"},"responsibleMdOffice":4875,"stockImageFileId":36646,"title":"Center Innovation Fund: ARC CIF","manageGaps":false,"acronymOrTitle":"ARC CIF"},"description":"
As part of the FY17 CIF effort, we have developed a novel method that uses a set of unknown random correlated pupil plane aberrations to obtain a high accuracy estimate of wavefront errors in an optical system.
","benefits":"Our proposed method uses a deformable mirror (DM) or any other source of random optical wavefront modulation (such as atmospheric turbulence) in an optical system to provide a high accuracy estimation of wavefront aberrations. Our solution does not require any additional optical elements and is free from non-common optical path errors. This benefit is especially important for exoplanet imaging space missions, because it allows us to simplify the layout of the coronagraph and improves the accuracy of the coronagraph model.
","releaseStatus":"Released","status":"Completed","destinationType":[],"trlBegin":1,"trlCurrent":3,"trlEnd":3,"favorited":false,"detailedFunding":false,"programContacts":[],"endDateString":"Jul 2017","startDateString":"Oct 2016"},"technologyOutcomePartner":"Other","technologyOutcomeDate":"2017-10-01","technologyOutcomePath":"Advanced_From","infoText":"Advanced from another project within the program","infoTextExtra":"Another project within the program (Focal plane wavefront estimation for space mission coronagraphs.)","isIndirect":true,"infusionPretty":"","isBiDirectional":true,"technologyOutcomeDateString":"Oct 2017","technologyOutcomeDateFullString":"October 2017","technologyOutcomePartnerPretty":"Other","technologyOutcomePathPretty":"Advanced From","technologyOutcomeRationalePretty":""},{"technologyOutcomeId":98606,"projectId":94132,"project":{"projectId":94132,"title":"Integrated Focal Plane Wavefront Estimating for Space Mission Coronagraphs","startDate":"2017-10-01","startYear":2017,"startMonth":10,"endDate":"2018-09-30","endYear":2018,"endMonth":9,"programId":160,"program":{"ableToSelect":false,"acronym":"ARC CIF","isActive":true,"description":"Through the Center Innovation Fund, the Space Technology Mission Directorate allocates a small portion of the NASA workforce and procurement budget to internal research and development to feed early stage innovation in technology and exploration. Activities with in the Center Innovation Fund are proposed and led by NASA scientists and engineers. These activities and creative initiatives pursue emerging technologies that leverage talent and capabilities at the NASA Centers. ","parentProgram":{"ableToSelect":false,"acronym":"CIF","isActive":true,"description":"Through the Center Innovation Fund, the Space Technology Mission Directorate allocates a small portion of the NASA workforce and procurement budget to internal research and development to feed early stage innovation in technology and exploration. Activities with in the Center Innovation Fund are proposed and led by NASA scientists and engineers. These activities and creative initiatives pursue emerging technologies that leverage talent and capabilities at the NASA Centers.
","parentProgram":{"ableToSelect":false,"isActive":true,"description":"Catalyst is a portfolio of early stage programs that specialize in different innovation constituencies and mechanisms to push the state of the art in aerospace technology development","programId":92327,"responsibleMd":{"canUserEdit":false,"locationEdit":false,"organizationRolePretty":"","organizationTypePretty":""},"title":"Catalyst","manageGaps":false,"acronymOrTitle":"Catalyst"},"parentProgramId":92327,"programId":64,"responsibleMd":{"canUserEdit":false,"locationEdit":false,"organizationRolePretty":"","organizationTypePretty":""},"stockImageFileId":36643,"title":"Center Innovation Fund","manageGaps":false,"acronymOrTitle":"CIF"},"parentProgramId":64,"programId":160,"responsibleMd":{"organizationId":4875,"organizationName":"Space Technology Mission Directorate","acronym":"STMD","organizationType":"NASA_Mission_Directorate","canUserEdit":false,"locationEdit":false,"organizationRolePretty":"","organizationTypePretty":"NASA Mission Directorate"},"responsibleMdOffice":4875,"stockImageFileId":36646,"title":"Center Innovation Fund: ARC CIF","manageGaps":false,"acronymOrTitle":"ARC CIF"},"description":"
Almost all proposed space coronagraph instruments for directly imaging exoplanets need wavefront estimation and control. Our project provided a new way of doing wavefront estimation. Similar to existing methods, our method uses a Deformable Mirror (DM) to provide sufficient and controlled diversity to enable reliable coronagraph phase retrieval. However, our key innovation is taht we do it without relying on the model of the DM. Our recovers both phase and amplitude of the pupil/Lyot plane by using a sequence of randomly aberrated partially-correlated focal plane images. In our case random optical aberrations are produced artificially by the DM and caused naturally by long term optical instability of the system.
","benefits":"This work directly supports the Agency exoplanet exploration priorities, and in particular missions to directly image exoplanets, such as WFIRST, LUVOIR, and HabEx, as well as potential Explorer-class missions.
","releaseStatus":"Released","status":"Completed","destinationType":[],"trlBegin":3,"trlCurrent":4,"trlEnd":4,"favorited":false,"detailedFunding":false,"programContacts":[],"endDateString":"Sep 2018","startDateString":"Oct 2017"},"relatedProjectId":95697,"relatedProject":{"projectId":95697,"title":"Sparse Wavefront Control: A New approach to exoplanet high-contrast imaging","startDate":"2018-10-01","startYear":2018,"startMonth":10,"endDate":"2019-09-30","endYear":2019,"endMonth":9,"programId":160,"program":{"ableToSelect":false,"acronym":"ARC CIF","isActive":true,"description":"Through the Center Innovation Fund, the Space Technology Mission Directorate allocates a small portion of the NASA workforce and procurement budget to internal research and development to feed early stage innovation in technology and exploration. Activities with in the Center Innovation Fund are proposed and led by NASA scientists and engineers. These activities and creative initiatives pursue emerging technologies that leverage talent and capabilities at the NASA Centers. ","parentProgram":{"ableToSelect":false,"acronym":"CIF","isActive":true,"description":"Through the Center Innovation Fund, the Space Technology Mission Directorate allocates a small portion of the NASA workforce and procurement budget to internal research and development to feed early stage innovation in technology and exploration. Activities with in the Center Innovation Fund are proposed and led by NASA scientists and engineers. These activities and creative initiatives pursue emerging technologies that leverage talent and capabilities at the NASA Centers.
","parentProgram":{"ableToSelect":false,"isActive":true,"description":"Catalyst is a portfolio of early stage programs that specialize in different innovation constituencies and mechanisms to push the state of the art in aerospace technology development","programId":92327,"responsibleMd":{"canUserEdit":false,"locationEdit":false,"organizationRolePretty":"","organizationTypePretty":""},"title":"Catalyst","manageGaps":false,"acronymOrTitle":"Catalyst"},"parentProgramId":92327,"programId":64,"responsibleMd":{"canUserEdit":false,"locationEdit":false,"organizationRolePretty":"","organizationTypePretty":""},"stockImageFileId":36643,"title":"Center Innovation Fund","manageGaps":false,"acronymOrTitle":"CIF"},"parentProgramId":64,"programId":160,"responsibleMd":{"organizationId":4875,"organizationName":"Space Technology Mission Directorate","acronym":"STMD","organizationType":"NASA_Mission_Directorate","canUserEdit":false,"locationEdit":false,"organizationRolePretty":"","organizationTypePretty":"NASA Mission Directorate"},"responsibleMdOffice":4875,"stockImageFileId":36646,"title":"Center Innovation Fund: ARC CIF","manageGaps":false,"acronymOrTitle":"ARC CIF"},"description":"The approach is to demonstrate the concept in the Ames Coronagraph Experiment (ACE) laboratory utilizing the second ACE optical bench that it is currently equipped with a PIAA coronagraph and a Kilo DM. Since a sparse DM does not exist yet, sparse DM functionality is emulated using a normal 32x32 BMC Kilo DM and actuate one of every 3 actuators. The rest of the actuators are commanded to stay flat. The effective result is a 10x10 actuator sparse DM with a fill factor of approximately 10%. A proven speckle nulling algorithm is run to execute wavefront control and apply the correction to the emulated Sparse DM. In parallel, the same system is simulated using the Ames super computer to have a comparison between our models and laboratory performance, to validate the models, and to identify and eliminate hardware limiting factors.","benefits":"Current high-contrast imaging systems for detection of exoplanets implement wavefront control using traditional deformable mirrors (DM) developed for atmospheric turbulence correction, which require large strokes, high-speed, and continuous phase correction. However, high-contrast imaging has different requirements. Thus, developing a specialized DM for this application would enable meeting demanding requirements for future exoplanet imaging flagship missions, such as 128x128 actuator DMs, which are currently not available. This work aims to advance the Sparse Wave Front Control and demonstrate it in the laboratory, validating the simulations. We demonstrated a new technique which promises to improve direct imaging of exoplanets on space telescope missions. The technique is called Sparse Wavefront Control (SWFC). It was demonstrated in the lab at the Ames Coronagraph Experiment (ACE), with validated simulations ran on the Ames supercomputer, bringing this tech nology to TRL 3. ","releaseStatus":"Released","status":"Completed","destinationType":[],"trlBegin":2,"trlCurrent":3,"trlEnd":3,"favorited":false,"detailedFunding":false,"programContacts":[],"endDateString":"Sep 2019","startDateString":"Oct 2018"},"technologyOutcomePartner":"Other","technologyOutcomeDate":"2018-10-01","technologyOutcomePath":"Advanced_To","infoText":"Advanced within the program","infoTextExtra":"Another project within the program (Sparse Wavefront Control: A New approach to exoplanet high-contrast imaging)","isIndirect":true,"infusionPretty":"","isBiDirectional":true,"technologyOutcomeDateString":"Oct 2018","technologyOutcomeDateFullString":"October 2018","technologyOutcomePartnerPretty":"Other","technologyOutcomePathPretty":"Advanced To","technologyOutcomeRationalePretty":""}],"libraryItems":[{"files":[],"libraryItemId":368382,"title":"Project Website","libraryItemType":"Link","url":"https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/innovation_fund/index.html#.VQb6gUjJzyE","projectId":94132,"internalOnly":false,"publishedDateString":"","entryDateString":"01/22/25 01:10 AM","libraryItemTypePretty":"Link","modifiedDateString":"10/25/24 02:23 PM"}],"states":[{"abbreviation":"CA","country":{"abbreviation":"US","countryId":236,"name":"United States"},"countryId":236,"name":"California","stateTerritoryId":59,"isTerritory":false}],"endDateString":"Sep 2018","startDateString":"Oct 2017"}}