November 21, 2002
(PLANETQUEST) -- NASA has named a group of 33 key scientists and technologists to make up the Science Working Group and the Independent Technology Review Panel for the Terrestrial Planet Finder mission (TPF).
Competitively selected from a field of 75 candidates, the group's role is to assist the project and NASA in coming up with two or three specific designs for missions that could accomplish the TPF goals of finding and characterizing Earth-like planets and looking for signs of life.
The group represents a cross-section of academic, governmental and industrial institutions from all over the U.S., according to TPF Project Scientist Dr. Charles Beichman. Their areas of expertise include detecting the possible signposts of life, interferometer instrumentation, chronograph instrumentation, general applications of TPF to other science projects, and the theory of planetary system formation.
"It's a great team that will help up come up with the best possible design for a mission to find planets," Beichman said.
The members of the TPF science working group are as follows:
| Name |
Institution |
| Charles Beichman (Chair) |
Jet Propulsion Laboratory |
| Dana Backman |
Franklin and Marshall College |
| Robert Brown |
Space Telescope Science Institute |
| Christopher Burrows |
Space Telescope Science Institute |
| William Danchi |
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center |
| Malcolm Fridlund |
ESA/ESTEC |
| Eric Gaidos |
University of Hawaii at Manoa |
| Philip Hinz |
University of Arizona |
| Kenneth Johnston |
US Naval Observatory |
| Marc Kuchner |
Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory |
| Doug Lin |
University of California, Santa Cruz |
| Jonathan Lunine |
University of Arizona |
| Victoria Meadows |
Jet Propulsion Laboratory |
| Gary Melnick |
Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory |
| Bertrand Mennesson |
Jet Propulsion Laboratory |
| David Miller |
Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| Charley Noecker |
Ball Aerospace and Technologies Corp. |
| Sara Seager |
Institute for Advanced Study |
| Eugene Serabyn |
Jet Propulsion Laboratory |
| William Sparks |
Space Telescope Science Institute |
| David Spergel |
Princeton University |
| Wesley Traub |
Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory |
| John Trauger |
Jet Propulsion Laboratory |
| Ted von Hippel |
University of Texas, Austin |
| Neville Woolf |
University of Arizona |
The members of the Independent Technology Review Panel are:
| Name |
Institution |
Area of expertise |
| Michael Krim (Chair) |
Perkin-Elmer, retired |
Large optical systems |
| Pierre Bely |
Space Telescope Science Institute |
Large optical systems |
| Mark Colavita |
Jet Propulsion Laboratory |
Interferometry systems |
| Dick Dyer |
Schafer Corporation |
Large optical systems, precisions wavefront control |
| Dave Hyland |
University of Michigan |
Precision formation flying |
| Ken Johnston |
US Naval Observatory |
Interferometry systems |
| John Lipa |
Stanford University |
Cryogenic systems |
| Michael Lou |
Jet Propulsion Laboratory |
Mechanical systems & structures |
TPF is managed by JPL for NASA's Origins program.
