Cosmic Explorer Project Funding
"Launching the Cosmic Explorer Conceptual Design".. This
award will establish a Cosmic Explorer Project Office, including systems
engineering and management structures. This team will develop the initial
Project Execution Plan and the initial Design and Development Plan for Cosmic
Explorer. The team will also coordinate related activities funded under
different awards and ultimately deliver the science traceability matrix, the
initial facility infrastructure concept, and the initial detector reference
design for Cosmic Explorer. (NSF Award 2309064)
"Collaborative Research: Identifying and Evaluating
Sites for Cosmic Explorer." This award supports the identification and
evaluation of the most promising locations for CE observatories while
developing protocols and best practices for large-scale projects to be in
partnership with local and Indigenous communities. (NSF Awards 2308985, 2308986, 2308987, 2308988, 2308989, 2308990)
"Cosmic Explorer Optical Design." This
award will build on the Cosmic Explorer Horizon Study results to deliver
parametric conceptual designs for the CE interferometers, iterate these with
the CE Science-Driven Design Team, and propagate requirements for other
detector systems via the CE Systems Team. (NSF awards 2309265, 2309266, 2309267, 2309268)
"Enabling Megawatt Optical Power in Cosmic Explorer." The
objective of this award is to enable laser interferometry at the megawatt
scale, by developing the initial design of a Mode Sensing and Control system
for Cosmic Explorer capable of overcoming the thermal lensing degradations that
limit current detectors. (NSF Awards 2309006 and 2309007)
"Local Gravity Disturbances and Next-Generation
Gravitational-Wave Astrophysics." This award will enable
the development of protocols for assessing the amount of Newtonian Noise that
may be present at candidate CE locations and establish what mitigation
techniques will be employed, for both seismic and acoustic contributions to NN
once a site is established. Prototypes of highly sensitive acoustic sensors
capable of measuring in the 5--20 Hz range, designs for an acoustic sensor
array for acoustic cancellation, and prototype isolation mitigation techniques
will be pursued. (recommended for funding)
"Cosmic Explorer: Research and Conceptual Designs for
Scattered-Light Mitigation." This award will enable a
team of scientists and engineers to analyze sources of noise associated with
stray light, especially in the interferometer arm cavities. We will produce an
initial conceptual design for the beam tube baffles. Mitigation of scattered
light in the beam tubes is a high-priority research topic, as it directly
impacts the facility design and cost. Other deliverables include requirements
for mirror surface roughness and exploration of low-scatter vacuum materials. (recommended for funding)