ESA scaling back X-ray astronomy mission design - SpaceNews

WASHINGTON — Facing rising costs, the European Space Agency is looking at ways to revise the design of a large X-ray space telescope, an effort that could have implications for NASA’s own astrophysics program.

ESA selected the Athena mission in 2014 as one of the two flagship astrophysical missions, along with the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA). Athena — the name comes from the Advanced Telescope for High-Energy Astrophysics — will launch in the mid-2030s to study supermassive black holes, supernova explosions, and other X-ray sources using large X-ray mirrors.

At the time of the election, each mission had an estimated cost to ESA of 1.05 billion euros ($1.07 billion), or about 1.17 billion euros today, said Paul McNamara, ESA’s astronomy and astrophysics coordinator, during a July 21 presentation to NASA astronomers and astrophysicists. committee. However, in 2019, the combined price of Athens and LISA has grown to 2.5 billion euros.

As of May 2022, LISA had an estimated cost of 1.5 billion euros, but Athens has grown to 1.9 billion euros. This is happening even as Athena is making good technical progress, he says, as in the development of new light mirror technology.

Most of the recent increase, he said, came after member states that had planned to make their own contributions to the mission withdrew. “Some member states concluded that they could not fulfill their commitments,” he said, “and they asked the ESA to take over their responsibilities.” That increases ESA fees for Athens.

“These costs are unsustainable,” he said. “If we want to maintain the variety of content that is at the core of our program, we have to cut the cost of our big mission.”

McNamara said there were no plans by ESA to cancel Athens, but the agency was instead considering a “rescoped” mission at a cost of no more than 1.3 billion euros. “We have to change Athena’s mission to reduce the cost significantly.”

The rescoped mission, currently dubbed NewAthena, will likely involve scaling back the science. “At the moment, it seems unlikely that we can reach 1.3. [billion euro] targets, completion costs for the ESA, while maintaining the full science objectives of the mission,” he said.

The effort would involve potential changes to its instrument configuration as well as the creation of a science “redefinition” team to reconsider the goals of science. The goal is to develop a revised concept, called a minimum disrupted mission, which will cost ESA no more than 1.3 billion euros but still do the science expected of a flagship-class mission.

What that means for the Athens schedule is unclear. McNamara said ESA is preparing to “adopt,” or move to the next phase of development, either Athens or LISA by November 2023. The others will be adopted in 2024 or 2025.

Another uncertainty is the funding that will be available in the next few years for Athens and LISA, something the ESA member states will decide at their next council of ministers meeting in November. “Right now we are assuming the level of potential resources for the future,” he said. “If we don’t get it, we don’t know what will happen.”

The Athena redesign could also affect NASA. The agency donated hardware for one instrument in Athens as well as other resources, such as testing and calibration facilities for its X-ray mirrors. McNamara said ESA officials had been in contact with their NASA counterparts about the Athens plans.

He added that ESA would not rule out increasing collaboration with NASA as a way to reduce ESA’s costs for the revised Athens mission. “No doors are closed,” he said. “We’re looking in whatever way we can try to get the best missions within the constraints of the program.”

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