Single Aperture Large Telescope for Universe Studies: science overview
Journal of Astronomical Telescopes Instruments and Systems, vol. 10, pp. 1–21
Abstract
The Single Aperture Large Telescope for Universe Studies (SALTUS) probe mission will provide a powerful far-infrared (far-IR) pointed space observatory to explore our cosmic origins and the possibility of life elsewhere. The observatory employs an innovative deployable 14-m aperture, with a sunshield that will radiatively cool the off-axis primary to <45 K. This cooled primary reflector works in tandem with cryogenic coherent and incoherent instruments that span 34- to 660-μm far-IR range at both high and moderate spectral resolutions. The mission architecture, using proven Northrop Grumman designs, provides visibility to the entire sky every 6 months with ∼35% of the sky observable at any one time. SALTUS’s spectral range is unavailable to any existing ground or current space observatory. SALTUS will have 16× the collecting area and 4× the angular resolution of Herschel and is designed for a lifetime of ≥5 years. The SALTUS science team has proposed a Guaranteed Time Observations program to demonstrate the observatory’s capabilities and, at the same time, address high-priority questions from the Decadal survey that align with NASA’s Astrophysics Roadmap. With a large aperture enabling high spatial resolution and sensitive instruments, SALTUS will offer >80% of its available observing time to Guest Observer programs, providing the science community with powerful capabilities to study the local and distant universe with observations of 1000s of diverse targets such as distant and nearby galaxies, star-forming regions, protoplanetary disks, and solar system objects.
Authors 36
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Gordon Chin corresponding
Goddard Space Flight Center · National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Affiliation as printed
NASA Goddard Space Flight Ctr
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, United States
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Goddard Space Flight Center · National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Affiliation as printed
NASA Goddard Space Flight Ctr
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, United States
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University of California, Berkeley
Affiliation as printed
Univ. of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley, California, United States
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Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique · Observatoire de Paris · Laboratoire d’études spatiales et d’instrumentation en astrophysique
Affiliation as printed
Observatoire de Paris à Meudon, CNRS
LESIA CNRS, Observatoire de Paris, Meudon, France
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Goddard Space Flight Center · National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Affiliation as printed
NASA Goddard Space Flight Ctr
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, United States
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Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique · Observatoire de Paris · Laboratoire d’études spatiales et d’instrumentation en astrophysique
Affiliation as printed
Lab. d'Etudes Spatiales et d'Instrumentation en Astrophysique, Observatoire de Paris, CNRS
LESIA CNRS, Observatoire de Paris, Meudon, France
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Goddard Space Flight Center · National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Affiliation as printed
NASA Goddard Space Flight Ctr
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, United States
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J. R. Gao Aachen SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research Netherlands Institute for Space Research
Space Research Organisation Netherlands
Affiliation as printed
SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research
Netherlands Institute for Space Research (SRON), Leiden, The Netherlands
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Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research
Affiliation as printed
Max-Planck-Institut für Sonnensystemforschung
Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, Göttingen, Germany
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Northrop Grumman (United States)
Affiliation as printed
Northrop Grumman Corp
Northrop Grumman Space Systems, Dulles, Virginia, United States
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Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Affiliation as printed
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
MIT EECS, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States
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Affiliation as printed
The Univ. of Arizona
University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, United States
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Affiliation as printed
The Univ. of Arizona
University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, United States
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Gert de Lange Aachen SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research Netherlands Institute for Space Research
Space Research Organisation Netherlands
Affiliation as printed
SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research
Netherlands Institute for Space Research (SRON), Leiden, The Netherlands
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Goddard Space Flight Center · National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Affiliation as printed
NASA Goddard Space Flight Ctr
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, United States
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Affiliation as printed
The Univ. of Arizona
University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, United States
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Affiliation as printed
Univ. of Virginia
University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, United States
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Affiliation as printed
The Univ. of Arizona
University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, United States
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U.S. National Science Foundation · NSF NOIRLab
Affiliation as printed
NSF's National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Lab
National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO), Tucson, Arizona, United States
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Utah State University Space Dynamics Laboratory
Affiliation as printed
Space Dynamics Lab
Space Dynamics Laboratory (SDL), Logan, Utah, United States
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Affiliation as printed
The Univ. of Arizona
University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, United States
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Affiliation as printed
Univ. of Oxford
Oxford University, Clarendon Laboratory, Oxford, United Kingdom
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Peter Roelfsema Aachen SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research Netherlands Institute for Space Research
Space Research Organisation Netherlands
Affiliation as printed
SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research
Netherlands Institute for Space Research (SRON), Leiden, The Netherlands
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Goddard Space Flight Center · National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Affiliation as printed
NASA Goddard Space Flight Ctr
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, United States
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Max Planck Institute for Astronomy
Affiliation as printed
Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie
Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, Heidelberg, Germany
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Affiliation as printed
The Univ. of Arizona
University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, United States
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Affiliation as printed
Texas A&M Univ
Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, United States
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Smithsonian Institution · Center for Astrophysics Harvard & Smithsonian
Affiliation as printed
Ctr. for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian
Center for Astrophysics Harvard Smithsonian, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States
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Floris F. S. van der Tak Aachen SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research Netherlands Institute for Space Research
Space Research Organisation Netherlands
Affiliation as printed
SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research
Netherlands Institute for Space Research (SRON), Leiden, The Netherlands
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Affiliation as printed
The Univ. of Arizona
University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, United States
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University of Maryland, College Park
Affiliation as printed
Univ. of Maryland, College Park
University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, United States
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Smithsonian Institution · Center for Astrophysics Harvard & Smithsonian
Affiliation as printed
Ctr. for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian
Center for Astrophysics Harvard Smithsonian, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States
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Goddard Space Flight Center · National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Affiliation as printed
NASA Goddard Space Flight Ctr
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, United States
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S. J. C. Yates Aachen SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research Netherlands Institute for Space Research
Space Research Organisation Netherlands
Affiliation as printed
SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research
Netherlands Institute for Space Research (SRON), Leiden, The Netherlands
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Universities Space Research Association
Affiliation as printed
Universities Space Research Association
Universities Space Research Association, Washington DC, United States
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Affiliation as printed
The Univ. of Arizona
University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, United States
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