Current time at conference location: 5:44 pm CT
Tuesday, January 9, 2024 | 10:00 AM CT - 11:30 AM CT
Session ID
210
Session Title
Accelerating Astro2020 with Super-heavy Launchers
Session Type
Special Session
Room
207
Session Chair
Martin Elvis
Summary
The Astro2020 Decadal Survey recognized that a suite of new great observatories was essential to modern astrophysics, but because of the high cost of a flagship mission, estimated that the first of these new great observatories would launch in 2045, a generation long wait. There is a possibility that new “super-heavy” launchers can cut these costs and deliver the Astro2020 flagship missions sooner than Astro2020 could anticipate.

A major cause of the high cost of flagships is that astrophysics space missions have long had to deal with a very limited mass and volume available because of the capabilities of the launchers available. For decades we have had to design missions to minimize their masses to a few tons and fit them into narrow, ~4.5m dia., shrouds. Having to save every kilogram requires multiple design and test cycles. Fitting within the shroud means folding large telescopes, as JWST had to. Both are expensive, and that limits the number of flagships we can fly.

Since Astro2020 concluded, a new generation of super-heavy launchers has begun to emerge. The SLS had a picture-perfect first flight around the Moon, and the SpaceX Starship/Super Heavy had a spectacular failure at stage separation --- a second flight is planned before this meeting. A version of Starship/Super Heavy will be used by NASA to land the first post-Apollo astronauts on the Moon in a few years. Both rockets have 8m diameter fairings and can launch well over 50 t to LEO. SLS is dauntingly expensive, if paid from the Astrophysics budget, but Starship/Super Heavy will provide these capabilities at the same or lower cost than a Falcon-Heavy today. These capabilities are a game-changer. Mass will no longer be an obstacle in mission design, but an enabler of designing with a goal of lower cost and a tighter schedule for the whole suite.

This Special Session will have talks on how each of the Astro2020 flagships can benefit from super-heavy launchers, accelerating the Astro2020 program.

Presentations