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| Joint Dark Energy Mission | |
|---|---|
| Name | Joint Dark Energy Mission |
| Mission type | Astrophysics |
| Operator | NASA / ESA |
Joint Dark Energy Mission
The Joint Dark Energy Mission was a proposed space observatory intended to investigate cosmic acceleration and dark energy through wide-field imaging and spectroscopy. It combined planning and technology efforts from multiple agencies to probe cosmology using Type Ia supernovae, baryon acoustic oscillations, and weak gravitational lensing. The program influenced later missions and collaborations among national and international institutions.
The concept originated from studies involving National Aeronautics and Space Administration, European Space Agency, Department of Energy (United States), and academic partners such as California Institute of Technology, Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University, and University of Oxford as agencies and institutions considered mission architectures. Technical reviews engaged teams from Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Goddard Space Flight Center, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Argonne National Laboratory, and SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory to assess instrument designs. The program was discussed alongside priorities outlined by panels including the Astro2010 Decadal Survey, the National Research Council, and advisory groups such as the Dark Energy Task Force and the European Southern Observatory community. Funding and policy dialogue involved stakeholders in Congress of the United States, European Parliament, and national research councils like the Science and Technology Facilities Council.
Primary objectives were framed relative to objectives set by the Dark Energy Task Force and goals articulated in reports from the National Research Council and the European Space Agency Science Programme Committee. Goals included precise measurement of the expansion history constrained by probes popularized by teams at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Brookhaven National Laboratory, and universities including Cambridge University, Princeton University, and University of Chicago. The mission sought to provide data comparable to surveys such as the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, the Two Degree Field Galaxy Redshift Survey, and follow-ons to projects like Pan-STARRS and the Dark Energy Survey.
Proposed payload elements drew on heritage from instruments developed by groups at Jet Propulsion Laboratory, European Space Agency instrument teams, and contractors like Ball Aerospace, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman. Baseline designs included a wide-field optical and near-infrared imager and a multi-object spectrograph influenced by technology demonstrations from Hubble Space Telescope instruments, the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, and prototype detectors developed at NASA Ames Research Center and Max Planck Institute for Astronomy. Detector technologies under consideration involved focal plane arrays similar to those used by Spitzer Space Telescope teams and spectroscopic approaches tested in ground facilities such as Keck Observatory and Very Large Telescope instrument groups. Calibration strategies referenced standards from Gaia and photometric systems used by Subaru Telescope and CFHT.
Management options mirrored collaborative frameworks used by joint projects such as James Webb Space Telescope and cooperative ventures involving NASA, ESA, and national laboratories including Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Programmatic oversight was planned with input from advisory bodies like the Science and Technology Policy Office and national funding agencies such as the National Science Foundation and European Commission research programs. Industrial partnerships included firms seen on missions like Hubble Space Telescope servicing contractors and detector suppliers associated with Teledyne Technologies and European contractors with ties to Airbus Defence and Space. Organizational models compared to missions like Gaia and Euclid were evaluated.
The timeline tracked concept studies, technology development, and mission selection phases akin to processes used for James Webb Space Telescope and Euclid. Early phases included community workshops similar to those convened by the Dark Energy Task Force and the Astrophysics Decadal Survey panels, followed by technology maturation at facilities like National Optical Astronomy Observatory and national labs. Key milestones referenced practices from mission development cycles of Hubble Space Telescope servicing missions, the selection procedures of Explorer program, and the implementation schedules of Cosmic Microwave Background missions such as Planck. Programmatic shifts reflected funding decisions influenced by committees in the United States Congress and European agencies.
Science goals emphasized measurements of the equation-of-state parameter constrained through complementary techniques championed by teams at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Princeton University, University of California, Berkeley, and Institute of Astrophysics of Paris. Methods included standardized supernova searches building on techniques from the Supernova Cosmology Project and the High-Z Supernova Search Team, baryon acoustic oscillation analyses extending methods from Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey, and weak gravitational lensing methodologies refined by the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope Lensing Survey. Statistical and systematic error control strategies invoked analysis frameworks used in collaborations at Sloan Digital Sky Survey and cosmological parameter inference approaches developed by researchers associated with Planck Collaboration and WMAP teams.
Although the mission as originally formulated did not proceed to a full flight project, its studies influenced missions and programs including Euclid, Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope, and observatory strategies at facilities like Large Synoptic Survey Telescope proponents and instrument teams at Subaru Telescope. Technology developments and collaboration models informed work at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, European Space Agency planning, and national labs such as Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. The scientific community’s priorities articulated through this initiative shaped subsequent investments by entities such as the National Science Foundation and the European Research Council.
Category:Proposed space observatories