  The 2020 Decadal Survey on Astronomy and Astrophysics endorsed space-based
high contrast imaging for the detection and characterization of habitable
exoplanets as a key priority for the upcoming decade. To advance the maturity
of starlight suppression techniques in a space-like environment, we are
developing the Space Coronagraph Optical Bench (SCoOB) at the University of
Arizona, a new thermal vacuum (TVAC) testbed based on the Coronagraphic Debris
Exoplanet Exploring Payload (CDEEP), a SmallSat mission concept for high
contrast imaging of circumstellar disks in scattered light. When completed, the
testbed will combine a vector vortex coronagraph (VVC) with a Kilo-C
microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) deformable mirror from Boston
Micromachines Corp (BMC) and a self-coherent camera (SCC) with a goal of raw
contrast surpassing $10^{-8}$ at visible wavelengths. In this proceedings, we
report on our wavefront sensing and control efforts on this testbed in air,
including the as-built performance of the optical system and the implementation
of algorithms for focal-plane wavefront control and digging dark holes (regions
of high contrast in the focal plane) using electric field conjugation (EFC) and
related algorithms.
