Technologies for the SNAP - SuperNova acceleration probe

The SuperNova/Acceleration Probe (SNAP) is a space-based experiment to measure the expansion history of the Universe, and is currently in the R&D phase. The experiment is motivated by the recent discovery that the expansion of the Universe is accelerating. Cosmologists believe that some unknown energy, called dark energy, permeates all of space and drives the acceleration. The SNAP conceptual design consists of a wide-field (approximately one degree) diffraction limited telescope with a 2-meter primary. Its half-billion-pixel imaging system is comprised of state-of-the-art visible and infrared sensors sharing a large focal plane. SNAP will use thousands of supernovae as cosmic markers of the scale of the universe over time and thus construct a history of the universe's growth. Looking back over 10 billion years at the expansion history of the universe, SNAP will be able to distinguish among different theories of dark energy. In this presentation the development challenges, new technologies, and instrumentation will be described. This work is funded by the DOE Office of Science.