A University of Central Florida scientist is one of 18 researchers nationwide chosen for the first round of NASA's 2026 Innovative Advanced Concepts program, the university said Thursday.
Anish Roshi Damodaran, a UCF professor and senior scientist at the Florida Space Institute, will receive $175,000 for a nine-month Phase I study of a concept called PHOENIX, short for Photonics-Enabled Heterodyne Submillimeter/Far-Infrared Interferometer.
The idea is to fly as many as 25 spacecraft that work together as a single, far larger telescope, an approach known as interferometry. Working at submillimeter and far-infrared wavelengths, the array would aim for very sharp images.
To keep the spacecraft acting as one instrument, the design relies on optical frequency combs and integrated photonic circuits to handle precise timing, positioning and signal processing, according to UCF.
What it would look for
UCF says the science goals include watching planets take shape in the disks of gas and dust around young stars, tracing how water, ice, gas and dust come together into new worlds, studying star birth inside dusty clouds, and examining how star formation and supermassive black holes have shaped galaxies over billions of years.
"PHOENIX could resolve structures on scales comparable to the size of the inner solar system," Damodaran said in the university's announcement. He compared the process to "undertaking a second Ph.D. thesis."
