The Canadian Roots of the TMT First Light Instruments NFIRAOS and IRIS

The two most advanced instrument concepts for the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) work together and both have substantial Canadian participation: The Narrow Field Infrared Adaptive Optics System (NFIRAOS) is the first-light facility Multi-Conjugate Adaptive Optics (MCAO) system and is led by NRC Herzberg Astronomy and Astrophysics (HAA). The InfraRed Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) is the first client instrument of NFIRAOS. The IRIS team is drawn from the University of California system, CIT, NAOJ, TMT, and NRC HAA. NFIRAOS will provide diffraction-limited performance in J, H, and K bands over a wide field. NFIRAOS will deliver images that will be the sharpest of any existing facility AO system. For astronomers to be fully satisfied with TMT + NFIRAOS + IRIS, they must be able to observe their key science programs. The laser guide stars, the use of MCAO, and on-instrument near-infrared wavfront sensors (OIWFSs) all contribute to achieving diffraction-limited performance 50% of the time at the North Galactic Pole. NRC HAA and its Canadian industrial contractors successfully passed the NFIRAOS final design review in June 2018. IRIS will use 4 mas pixels across a 34x34 arcsecond field of view. It will contain up to 60 broad and narrow-band filters that span wavelengths from 0.8 to 2.4 microns. IRIS contains two selectable Integral Field Spectrographs with varying spectral resolutions and platescales. NRC is responsible for the thermal and mechanical interfaces to NFIRAOS, as well as providing the rotator and OIWFSs. IRIS is scheduled to complete its final design review in early 2021. We present an overview of the key elements of the NFIRAOS and IRIS designs and highlight some of the important performance budgets and design solutions made along the way. We discuss the challenges and rewards of working with industry on large, complex instrumentation projects. We invite more Canadian participation in the science teams for these first light workhorse TMT instruments. Lessons learned from these instruments will be important as the 2nd generation of TMT instruments are planned.