NASA selects new far-infrared telescope PRIMA with MPIA providing crucial hardware

As the first in a new mission class, PRIMA advances to the stage of developing a full preliminary design.

To the point

• PRIMA mission, NASA, far-infrared telescope: NASA selected the PRIMA space telescope for the next development phase to explore the universe’s history and evolution using far-infrared light, with a planned launch in 2033.
• MPIA contribution, hardware, instruments: The Max Planck Institute for Astronomy (MPIA) provides key optomechanical components and control electronics.
• Scientific goals, universe exploration: PRIMA will study star and planet formation, galaxy evolution, black holes, and cosmic dust by bridging the observational gap between existing infrared and radio telescopes.

NASA announced Wednesday a mission to explore the history and evolution of the universe, PRIMA (PRobe far-Infrared Mission for Astrophysics), is advancing to the next phase of development. This space telescope is the first in a new class of NASA astrophysics missions, called Probe Explorers, within the agency’s longstanding Explorers Program. MPIA proposes to contribute opto-mechanical components for the spacecraft, including control electronics.

“The PRIMA mission is humanity’s next window into the deep universe. It will unveil the obscure across cosmic time to better understand the formation of planets, stars, black holes, and even how water on Earth came to be,” said Nicky Fox, associate administrator, Science Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters in Washington, USA.

NASA selected PRIMA to move into Phase B, the stage of development that advances the preliminary design and technology development for the mission. The mission is subject to a confirmation review, based on technical, programmatic, and cost performance, to determine its readiness to begin implementation in Phase C. If confirmed, PRIMA’s project cost is capped at $1.2 billion, not including launch and other non-project costs. The observatory will be targeted to launch in 2033, for a planned five-year mission.

With a 1.8-metre telescope, PRIMA will conduct deep, sensitive surveys of the universe in far-infrared light, helping bridge the gap between existing infrared observatories, such as NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, and radio telescopes. By studying radiant energy that only emerges in the far-infrared, PRIMA will address a wide range of questions about the universe. This includes the origins of planets outside our solar system, how galaxies and their black holes have grown and evolved over cosmic history, and how dust and heavy elements have built up in the universe over time – all helping paint a better picture of why the universe looks the way it does today.

MPIA’s involvement

“We are proud that, thanks to our expertise, MPIA once again contributes to a groundbreaking NASA space telescope now selected for the next step of development,” says Oliver Krause, one of MPIA’s PRIMA co-Is. He leads MPIA’s Infrared Space Astronomy Group, which is associated with the Planet Formation and Exoplanets (PFE) Department.

“PRIMA will provide valuable observations for several key research areas at our institute, such as planet and star formation, which we can access thanks to our proposed hardware contributions,” explains MPIA Director Emeritus Thomas Henning. He is also a PRIMA co-I and helped define its science program.

MPIA’s proposed technical contribution to PRIMA consists of two high-precision, actively controlled beam-steering mirrors, so-called two-axis focal plane choppers – one each for PRIMAger (PRIMA Imager) and FIRESS (Far-InfraRed Enhanced Survey Spectrometer). Their task is to quickly and precisely align and stabilize the instrument's field of view through the telescope at different areas of the sky.

“PRIMA is the logical next step after contributing to numerous successful space telescopes,” says MPIA Director Myriam Benisty, who leads the PFE Department. MPIA assumed crucial roles in projects such as the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Infrared Space Observatory (ISO), Herschel, and Euclid, as well as NASA’s James Webb (JWST) and Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescopes (Roman).

NASA’s commitment to space research

A single mission alone cannot probe all the universe’s mysteries. But by extending the survey capabilities of the fleet of space telescopes into far-infrared wavelengths with PRIMA, scientists will gain a comprehensive look at the cosmos. With JWST and Roman, NASA set a cadence of launching premier-class missions in both halves of the decade. PRIMA kicks off the next decade as part of a pipeline that will consistently have missions of this calibre ready to go.

The US National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s 2020 Decadal Survey, Pathways to Discovery in Astronomy and Astrophysics for the 2020s, recommended NASA establish this new Probe Explorers mission class. NASA selected PRIMA for development after detailed evaluation of concept studies for Probe Explorer missions, based on their scientific merit in alignment with the Decadal Survey’s recommendations, feasibility of their development plans on cost and schedule, and use of technologies that could support the development of future large missions.

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, managed by Caltech, will manage the PRIMA mission. Other partners include NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland and NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. The PRIMA mission will also have contributions from international partners: CNES (Centre National D’Etudes Spatiales), ASI (Agenzia Spaziale Italiana), DLR (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt) as MPIA’s direct funding agency, CSA (Canadian Space Agency), KASI (Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute), JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency), and the UK Space Agency.

The Explorers Program is the oldest continuous NASA program designed to provide frequent, low-cost access to space using principal investigator-led space science investigations relevant to the Science Mission Directorate’s astrophysics and heliophysics programs. Since the Explorer 1 launch in 1958, which discovered Earth’s radiation belts, the Explorers Program has launched more than 100 missions, including the Uhuru and Cosmic Background Explorer missions that led to Nobel Prizes for their investigators.

The Explorers Program is managed by NASA Goddard for the Science Mission Directorate, which conducts a wide variety of research and scientific exploration programs for Earth studies, space weather, the solar system, and the universe.