Wide Field Imager Technology Reference Study
Publication date: 07 October 2006
Authors: Lyngvi, A. et al.
Page: 1-10
Year: 2006
Paper IAC-06-A3.1.04, 57th International Astronautical Congress, Valencia, Spain, 2-6 October 2006.
In response to ESA's call for space science themes in the frame of Cosmic Vision 2015-2025, the scientific community identified a Wide-Field Optical and Near Infrared Imager as a potential future science mission for Europe. Such a mission would search for Type Ia supernovae at low redshift in the optical and near infrared part of the spectrum with the aim to measure the changing rate of expansion of the universe and to determine the contributions of decelerating and accelerating energies such as the mass density, the vacuum energy density and other yet to be studied dark energies. To investigate the feasibility of this potential future mission the Science Payload & Advanced Concepts Office (SCI-A) at ESA initiated the Wide Field Imager (WFI) Technology Reference Study (TRS). The WFI would have a 2 m class telescope, a 1 square degree field of view imaging camera and a low-resolution integral field spectrometer. This paper summarizes the results of this ESA internal feasibility study of the WFI. The paper focuses on the spacecraft design and the critical subsystems and provides an overview of required technology development activities for such a mission.
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