IGRINS-2 Critical Design Review Completed on Schedule

The Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute (KASI) hosted the Critical Design Review for the Immersion Grating INfrared Spectrometer-2 (IGRINS-2) instrument remotely from 28-29 October 2020. Dr. Chan Park of KASI, the IGRINS-2 Principal Investigator, hosted the event that included a review panel consisting of both Gemini and community experts.

As part of joining the Gemini international partnership, KASI is providing the Observatory with an instrument very similar to the original IGRINS (available as a popular visitor instrument at Gemini South). The instrument is designed to observe all of the H and K band atmospheric windows in a single exposure with a resolution R>40,000.

Thanks in part to the strong heritage of the original IGRINS instrument, the Critical Design Stage focused primarily on the differences between IGRINS and IGRINS-2: largely improved electronics and optical tailoring for Gemini. The highly focused team maintained its original schedule and successfully completed the design stage in 7 months. The review committee’s debrief highlighted the team’s expertise and ability to successfully build this instrument, making a number of suggestions to reduce risk going forward.

Congratulations to the KASI IGRINS-2 Team on a job well done.