S T A R & P L A N E T TERRESTRIAL PLANET FINDER NEWSLETTER Number 5, October 9, 2003 1. TPF Science, Technology and Design Expo 2. TPF Science Working Group news 1. TPF SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND DESIGN EXPO - next week! The TPF Project is holding its first annual "TPF Science, Technology and Design Expo": Pasadena Convention Center 300 East Green Street Pasadena, California 91101 October 14-16, 2003 It's not too late to plan to attend! You are cordially invited to attend and participate in this meeting - you can register at the door. The Expo was originally announced as the "TPF Annual Review"; we changed the name because it's actually not a review at all. The purpose of the Expo is to report on the status of TPF, including the project's progress over the past year, to provide insight into future plans, and provide opportunities for input from the wider science and technical community. The Expo is open to the entire TPF community including scientists, engineers, and technologists from industry, universities and the U.S. Government as well as our partners from the European Space Agency. Presentations will include oral and poster sessions on topics related to TPF science, system design, and technology development work supported by the TPF Project. For more details, including the agenda, registration, and travel info, please see the Expo web site: http://planetquest.jpl.nasa.gov/TPF/expo03/ The Program Chair is Chris Lindensmith Christian.A.Lindensmith@jpl.nasa.gov Phone: 818-354-6697. 2. TPF SCIENCE WORKING GROUP NEWS The TPF Science Working Group (SWG) meets every few months to discuss the science objectives of TPF, to learn about Project technical progress, and provide input to JPL on the science requirements, observing strategies, data analysis, instrument design, etc. One of the Group's roles is provide a point of contact for the members of the wider science community interested in learning about TPF, and especially for those interested in contributing to its development. Feel free to contact members of the Science Working Group if you have inputs! http://planetquest.jpl.nasa.gov/news/tpf_free.cfm The SWG held its fourth meeting in Washington DC, Sep 30 - Oct 2. The Group reviewed the draft science requirements. Among the key requirements is the prospective target list for TPF - how many stars should it observe, and what selection criteria should be applied in compiling the list? What spectral coverage and resolution is needed to characterize detected planets? These draft requirements serve the critical role of guiding the two architecture teams in developing designs that are scientifically viable. Also discussed was a draft of the TPF Precursor Science Roadmap, a document which will lay out the important science topics which should be pursued in the years before TPF launches. Scientific input is important for making informed choices on the instrument design and its capabilities. Supporting the growing field of extrasolar planet research is important also, because it will set the scientific context for the correct interpretation of results from TPF. In addition to meetings of the full TPF Science Working Group, the two architecture teams (optical coronagraph and mid-IR interferometer) have held Technical Interchange Meetings (TIMs, in NASA jargon). Each TIM focuses on the detailed technical and scientific issues of one of the designs, with active participation by the JPL design teams and interested members of the SWG. Everyone who attended the first pair of TIMs agreed that they were very productive, and this organization of the study teams will continue through Pre-Phase-A. A debrief of the TIMs is done at each SWG meeting, so that the entire Group stays informed about developments in both the interferometer and coronagraph designs. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Steve Unwin, Editor stephen.unwin@jpl.nasa.gov You are subscribed to the list 'TPF-announce'. To unsubscribe from this list, please go to the 'Engineers & Scientists' link on the TPF web page at: http://planetquest.jpl.nasa.gov/Navigator/tpf_nav.cfm