S T A R & P L A N E T TERRESTRIAL PLANET FINDER NEWSLETTER Number 12, April 29, 2008 CONTENTS 1. Editorial 2. Exoplanet Forum 2008 3. SIM Science Studies - Request for Proposals released April 25, 2008 Closing date for proposals is *June 13, 2008* 4. ExoPlanet Task Force (ExoPTF) Report 1. Editorial Thanks to all the readers who have been waiting patiently for another update on the Terrestrial Planet Finder (TPF) missions. The main news is that the Navigator Program is being reorganized to align better with NASA's plans for development of missions to study extrasolar planets. As part of this re-alignment, the program is being renamed the 'Exoplanet Exploration Program', a longer name, but more descriptive of the goals. You may see this abbreviated to 'ExEP'. The Program includes the missions of the Navigator Program: SIM, TPF-C and TPF-I, Keck Interferometer, Large Binocular Telescope Interferometer (LBTI), and the Michelson Science Center (MSC). The Kepler (planetary transits) mission was developed through the Discovery Program, but is being transferred to ExEP because this is where its science lies. The Exoplanet Exploration Program is directed by NASA to focus on developing and supporting the technologies for future exoplanet missions. This was a goal of the Navigator Program of course, but now this is intended to first enable moderate scale missions, with a long-term goal of flying the flagship TPF missions. This is in part a reflection of the realities of the NASA astrophysics budget. A full scale TPF (either coronagraph or mid-IR interferometer) is unlikely to enter full scale development in the next decade. To help NASA in its long-term planning for the field, the Program is holding a community workshop "Exoplanet Forum 2008" in May 2008. See item 2 below. Another item of news is a planned mission proposal call in this field. Recognizing the scientific importance of the study of extrasolar planets, NASA anticipates announcing in 2009 a proposal call for a medium-scale exoplanet mission. 2. Exoplanet Forum 2008 Most readers will be aware of this meeting to be held in Pasadena at the end of May. The topic is extrasolar planets, and we welcome anyone who has an interest in helping to chart the future course of this field (with space missions as the main focus). You can find the Third Announcement, mailed April 23, at: http://exep.jpl.nasa.gov/exep_exf3rdAnnouncement.cfm On the same website you can find details of the organization of the Forum. You can also find contact information there, if you have questions. This is a working meeting, geared toward the writing of a comprehensive report. So we do not solicit contributed presentations. Instead, we ask you to join an interest group to help write a section of the report. Before the Forum, each group will solicit inputs and discuss issues in preparation for leading the discussion at the meeting. Register at the Forum website, where you can also indicate your areas of interest for this meeting. The website has information on the meeting, logistics, hotel reservations, and topic areas for your participation. Register to ensure that you will receive future updates. We look forward to seeing many of you in Pasadena and working together on charting the future of this exciting field of exoplanet science. For the SOC and LOC: Wes Traub, Steve Unwin, and Peter Lawson 3. SIM Science Studies - Request for Proposals released April 25, 2008 Closing date for proposals is *June 13, 2008* Readers of this Newsletter may be interested in a recent opportunity for funding to study science topics that can be addressed with SIM observations. Of course, SIM will address many topics in astrophysics besides exoplanets, but this call does include studies of exoplanets of interest to our readers. The Space Interferometer Mission (SIM) and the Michelson Science Center (MSC) are inviting proposals in response to a Request for Proposals (RFP) entitled "SIM Science Studies", released on April 25. The objective of this solicitation is to enhance the science return from SIM by supporting researchers to conduct concept studies that will lead to the most scientifically productive observations using SIM. SIM will offer US astronomers a fundamentally new class of astronomical observations. The most effective use of this new capability requires not only careful selection of science targets and observing strategies, but also community input as to innovative ideas that take full advantage of SIM's precision, sensitivity, and flexibility. We anticipate there will be entirely new astrophysical experiments to be devised that go well beyond the 'traditional' applications of astrometry at modest precision. The RFP covers studies in all areas of astrophysics that are enabled by observations with SIM. The scope of awarded studies includes, but is not limited to, modeling of dynamical or physical processes to be studied with SIM, the selection of suitable targets, assessment of instrument performance, and design of observing sequences to take best advantage of SIM's flexible scheduling. However, support for ground- or space-based observations of potential targets is beyond the scope of this RFP. It is important to note that no SIM observing time is being awarded through this solicitation. The closing date for proposals is *June 13, 2008*. Letters of intent to propose are not required. More information on the RFP can be found on the MSC website, at: http://msc.caltech.edu/missions/SIMPQ/SIMSciStudies/index.html Information on SIM science, instrument, and mission may be found on the Project website at: http://sim.jpl.nasa.gov/. A detailed description of SIM's science capabilities may be found in a recent paper in PASP by Unwin et al. (2008): http://planetquest.jpl.nasa.gov/SIM/SIM-PASP.cfm 4. Exoplanets Task Force Report The Exoplanets Task Force (ExoPTF) has released (in almost final form) its report to the Astronomy and Astrophysics Advisory Committee (AAAC). The ExoPTF was established as a subcommittee to advise NSF and NASA on the future of the ground-based and space-based search for and study of exo-planets, planetary systems, Earth-like planets and habitable environments around other stars. In its 160-page Report, the ExoPTF recommended a 15-year strategy to detect and characterize exo-planets and planetary systems, and their formation and evolution, including the identification of nearby candidate Earth-like planets. The (draft) Report may be found at http://www.nsf.gov/mps/ast/exoptf.jsp. An important finding of the Report is that the diverse methods of observing extrasolar planets, and the systems in which they live, each provide important information that, taken together, advance the field significantly. Accordingly, the Report considers in detail the scientific contributions of each method and their future prospects. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Steve Unwin, Editor stephen.unwin'at'jpl.nasa.gov You are subscribed to the list 'TPF-announce'. To unsubscribe from this list, please go to the 'TPF Newsletter' link on the TPF home page, where you can also find back issues of the Newsletter: http://planetquest.jpl.nasa.gov/Navigator/library/tpf_newsletter.cfm