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C. Lindensmith (Caltech, JPL)
The Terrestrial Planet Finder Mission (TPF ) will search for and characterize Earth-like planets within ~15 pc of the earth. Three mission concepts and their associated technologies are being developed toward a launch in 2014. The three concepts are: a coronagraph operating in visible wavelengths; an infrared interferometer on a single structure, and an infrared interferometer on separated spacecraft. The key technologies needed to enable each of these mission concepts are being developed We present brief descriptions of the three mission concepts and a summary of the TPF technology development plans along with recent significant results in key areas.
This research was carried out at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
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Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 35 #4
© 2003. The American Astronomical Soceity.