Terrestrial
Planet Finder (TPF)
The Terrestrial
Planet Finder (TPF) would use an array of telescopes orbiting the Earth in formation
to generate planetary pictures 100 times more detailed than those the Hubble
Space Telescope could take.
TPF
would use a developing technology called nulling to improve vision. Light waves
from a star have crests and troughs, just like water waves. If the starlight
from two separated telescopes comes together just right, the crests from one
and the troughs from the other can cancel each other out, reducing or eliminating
starlight. This would allow a view of planets around the star [see animation].
The goal would
be to create a census of relatively nearby Earth-sized planets. TPF would study
all aspects of planets: from their formation and development to their suitability
as an abode for life.
The telescope
would study planetary systems as far away as 50 light-years. In addition to
measuring the size and temperature, instruments would reveal the relative amounts
of gases like carbon dioxide, water vapor, ozone and methane, all of which would
help determine whether a planet could support life, or could have supported
it in the past.
TPF is targeted
for launch in 2011, though it has not been funded. Before the mission can be
designed, engineers still need to figure out how to control separate spacecraft
flying in formation while also orbiting Earth.
Future
Missions to Search for Earth-like Planets
COROT
| Eddington
| Kepler
| Darwin
| Terrestrial
Planet Finder
| SIM
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