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

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