TPF
Full Name: Terrestrial Planet Finder
Phase: Under study
Mission Project Home Page: http://planetquest.jpl.nasa.gov/TPF/tpf_index.cfm
A Terrestrial Planet Finder Observatory will combine the high sensitivity of space telescopes with revolutionary imaging technologies to measure the size, temperature, and placement of planets as small as the Earth in the habitable zones of distant solar systems.
Understanding the potential of a planet to support life may eventually require TPF missions capable of both visible and infrared measurements in order to study the temperature and amounts of gases in their atmospheres. Several approaches are under consideration, including nearly conventional telescopes optimized for imaging other planets, and missions with multiple spacecraft designed to operate together to suppress the bright star light while collecting light from planets for study.
Our understanding of the properties of Earthlike planets will be scientifically most valuable within a broader framework that includes the properties of all planetary system constituents, including gas giant and terrestrial planets and debris disks. Some of this information will become available with currently planned space or ground-based facilities, but a TPF's ability to carry out a program of comparative planet studies across a range of planetary masses and orbital locations in a large number of new solar systems is an important scientific motivation for such a mission.
A TPF mission will not be limited to the detection and study of distant planets. An observatory with the power to detect an Earth orbiting a nearby star will also be able to collect important new data on many targets of general astrophysical interest.
At present, NASA continues to work with university scientists and industry to develop TPF technology. Meanwhile, the Kepler mission will soon collect information about the number of possible nearby Earthlike planets, and the Keck Interferometer and Large Binocular Telescope Interferometer projects will measure the dust surrounding those stars. Other missions and instruments will help to choose actual TPF targets. This information will guide design of a TPF optimized to most cost-effectively study our nearest exoplanet neighbors.