PI Leonid Pogorelyuk (RPI), and Co-I’s Kerri Cahoy (MIT), John Monnier (UMichigan), and
Michael Shao (JPL) won a NASA-funded grant for a LIFE related technology project
starting in September 2024. The “Compact Delay Line for Space Interferometry” project
will demonstrate a 5 m delay line that fits within a 2U (20 cm x 10 cm) envelope and can
be controlled with 20 nm precision by four piezo-actuated mirrors. Long delay lines can
reduce the complexity of formation-flying space interferometers, especially when it
comes to the number of satellites in a (LIFE) precursor mission.