Far-infrared telescopes mix the incoming light from space with their own far-infrared laser to maximize the spectral resolution. But the currently available lasers can’t produce a radiation signal with an ideal shape—a Gaussian beam. Yuner Gan, a PhD student at SRON and RUG, has now developed a beam cleaning device that reshapes an original laser beam into a Gaussian beam. Publication in Optics Express.
Month: October 2020
TANGO mission proposal presented in final selection round for ESA’s Scout mission
A consortium of ISISpace, TNO, KNMI and SRON has presented their proposal for the TANGO space mission during the final selection round for ESA’s first Scout mission. TANGO is one of four remaining candidates and will zoom in on concentrations of greenhouse gases in high resolution. It is aimed to complement the larger European climate satellites such as CO2M and Sentinel-5(p), which scan the atmosphere with a wider field of view. The final selection is expected in November.
Costs too high for space telescope SPICA
The space agencies ESA and JAXA have decided to take SPICA, the joint European-Japanese infrared space telescope, out of the competition for ESA’s fifth medium class mission (M5). SPICA was one of the three candidates for the M5 mission, which is part of ESA’s Cosmic Vision program. Although a last review has shown that the mission is technically feasible, the two agencies decided that the costs were going to be too high to continue with the project.
