Newcomb: a small astrometric interferometer

Newcomb is a design concept for a low-cost astrometric optical interferometer with nominal single-measurement accuracy of 100 microseconds of arc ((mu) as). In a 30 month mission, it will make scientifically interesting measurements of O-star, RR Lyrae, and Cepheid distances, probe the dark matter in our Galaxy via parallax measurements of K giants in the disk, establish a reference grid with internal consistency better than 50 microsecond(s) , and lay groundwork for the larger optical interferometers that are expected to produce a profusion of scientific results during the next century. With an extended mission life, Newcomb could do a useful preliminary search for other planetary systems.