NSF’s NOIRLab US-ELTP verification and validation process: Part 1 of 3 PDR stage

Abstract

The US Extremely Large Telescope Program (US-ELTP) is a joint endeavor of National Science Foundation’s National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory (NSF’s NOIRLab) and the organizations building the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) and the Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT). Our goals are to complete construction of both observatories and to enable all US astronomers to carry out transformational research that takes full advantage of the diverse capabilities of both GMT and TMT as well as the two-hemisphere system. NOIRLab’s portion of this initiative is a software suite called the US ELT Program Platform (UPP). The UPP will support the investigator through all phases of their observations: from proposal creation, time allocation, observation data transfer and storage, and data analysis to publication. Among many design and development activities, NOIRLab is currently preparing for a 2023 NSF Preliminary Design Review (PDR). This is the first of a three-paper series that will discuss the initial concepts behind the US-ELTP Verification and Validation (V&V) process, how those concepts mature as we progress to the PDR and a Final Design Review (FDR, part 2), and how the V&V effort is conducted on real products during the Construction Phase of the project (part 3).