Curvature-Based Passive/Active Extended Source Wavefront Sensor for Space Surveillance

ABSTRACT: Kestrel Corporation's Distorted Grating Wavefront Sensor detects can be used to sense against point source (classical active beacon) or passively against the image of an extended source. The DGWFS is more tolerance of harsh seeing conditions, such as scintillation, than Shack Hartmann sensors. The proposed Phase I work is to demonstrate (via modeling) performance of such a sensor under seeing conditions nominally similar to airborne, ground and marine space surveillance seeing conditions using an Air Fordce telescope. BENEFIT: The technology will benefit a variety of end users from improved performance in astronomincal telescopes to use on EO/IR platforms to COTS wavefront sensors. THe DGWFS, being more toleranct of poor atmospheric conditions, will enable the benefits of adaptive optics to be realized in a way that will increase the optimized availability of these surveillance assets.