Whitepaper available: "SIM PlanetQuest: A Mission for Astrophysics and Planet-Finding," by Stephen J. Edberg, Michael Shao, and Charles A. Beichman (
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The Decadal Survey for Astronomy and Astronomy and Astrophysics of the 1990s set forth a lofty goal: develop a revolutionary space telescope that would "... achieve a 1,000-fold improvement in our ability to measure celestial positions." This new instrument would enable scientists to rigorously test accepted astrophysics theories, resolve fundamental questions about our galaxy, and detect Earth-size planets around other stars, among many other science objectives. (
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The SIM Project has just successfully passed its most important milestone to date, on its path to launch in 2010. By authorizing SIM to enter Phase B, NASA reaffirms its commitment to to this mission, and the revolutionary science results that it is expected to provide. (
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The SIM team completed the last of the Phase A milestones on October 29, 2002. This milestone demonstrates both wide-angle (global astrometry) and narrow-angle 'basic' performance of the external metrology system needed to relate SIM's guide interferometers to the science interferometers at the 10's of picometer level. This result comes from the 'Kite' Testbed - a combination of 6 laser metrology gauges arranged in a planar layout similar to the shape of a child's classic four pointed kite. (
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