Abstract
The Probe of Inflation and Cosmic Origins (PICO) is a NASA-funded study of a Probe-class mission concept. The toplevel science objectives are to probe the physics of the Big Bang by measuring or constraining the energy scale of inflation, probe fundamental physics by measuring the number of light particles in the Universe and the sum of neutrino masses, to measure the reionization history of the Universe, and to understand the mechanisms driving the cosmic star formation history, and the physics of the galactic magnetic field. PICO would have multiple frequency bands between 21 and 799 GHz, and would survey the entire sky, producing maps of the polarization of the cosmic microwave background radiation, of galactic dust, of synchrotron radiation, and of various populations of point sources. Several instrument configurations, optical systems, cooling architectures, and detector and readout technologies have been and continue to be considered in the development of the mission concept. We will present a snapshot of the baseline mission concept currently under development.
Original language | English (US) |
---|---|
Title of host publication | Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2018 |
Subtitle of host publication | Optical, Infrared, and Millimeter Wave |
Editors | Giovanni G. Fazio, Howard A. MacEwen, Makenzie Lystrup |
Publisher | SPIE |
ISBN (Print) | 9781510619494 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 2018 |
Event | Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2018: Optical, Infrared, and Millimeter Wave - Austin, United States Duration: Jun 10 2018 → Jun 15 2018 |
Publication series
Name | Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering |
---|---|
Volume | 10698 |
ISSN (Print) | 0277-786X |
ISSN (Electronic) | 1996-756X |
Other
Other | Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2018: Optical, Infrared, and Millimeter Wave |
---|---|
Country/Territory | United States |
City | Austin |
Period | 6/10/18 → 6/15/18 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© COPYRIGHT SPIE. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Keywords
- B-modes
- Bolometers
- Cosmic microwave background
- Cryocooling
- Polarization
- Probe-class
- Space mission