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Terrestrial Planet Finder is a suite of two complementary space observatories: a visible-light coronagraph and a mid-infrared formation-flying interferometer. They will detect and characterize Earth-like planets around as many as 150 stars up to 45 light-years away. |
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- Survey nearby stars looking for terrestrial-size planets in the "habitable zone"
- Follow up brightest candidates with spectroscopy, looking for atmospheric signatures, habitability or life itself
- Carry out a program of high spatial-resolution astrophysics
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- large, passively cooled optics
- formation flying
- nulling interferometry
- precision wavefront control
- coronagraphs
- large precision optics for visible wavelenghts
- Infrared detectors
- cryocoolers
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Ariane 5, EELV, or Delta IV Heavy |
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Jet Propulsion Laboratory of the California Institute of Technology |
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