Paper 14145-57
Paper 14145-57
Mini-Metrology and Ultra-Stable Testbed (Mini-MUST): a TRL-advancing stability testbed for Habitable Worlds Observatory
8 July 2026 • 11:50 - 12:10 CEST | Room B4-M3
Abstract
The Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO) requires unprecedented, picometer-level stability to fulfill one of its driving science requirements of detecting and characterizing Earth-like planets around Sun-like stars. Over the last several years, the Goddard Space Flight Center’s Ultra-Stable Structures Laboratory has been designing and constructing the Mini-Metrology and Ultra-Stable Testbed (Mini-MUST) to test components and systems to these stability levels and advance their technical readiness levels. Mini-MUST recently achieved first light at GSFC and has started testing campaigns to support the ROSES D.19 projects. We present our first light results, including correlation of our measured data with our high-fidelity thermal and structural models.
Presenter
NASA Goddard Space Flight Ctr., NASA (United States)
Breann Sitarski is the Deputy Principal Architect, GSFC Testbeds Lead, and Optical Systems Engineer for the Habitable Worlds Observatory. Breann’s research interests are in precision metrology, optical alignment and testing, wavefront sensing and control for large telescopes, star formation, and astrometry. She earned her Ph.D. in Astrophysics at the University of California, Los Angeles under the guidance of Professors Andrea Ghez and Michael Fitzgerald in 2016. She was previously the Deputy Project Systems Engineer, Optical Systems Scientist, and Alignment lead at the Giant Magellan Telescope.