The search for life is a unifying theme for much of NASA's science program,
from robotic and possibly human expeditions to Mars to the search for planets
and life on worlds beyond our solar system. The goal of NASA's Origins Program
is to search for distant Earth-like planets -- and life -- with an advanced
space telescope, the Terrestrial Planet Finder. While the technical challenges
are daunting, new technologies are being developed that could provide a
scientific answer to the 2,000 year old question of the existence of life on
other worlds. I will discuss the history of this profound question, summarize
the state of modern planet searches, and discuss prospects for the Terrestrial
Planet Finder as a national and possibly international mission to fly in the
next decade.
Audio of Introduction by David Gross, KITP Director.
Dr. Beichman is Executive Director of Michelson Science Center, NASA's premier
institution for the search for planets and life beyond the solar system. His
scientific interests lie in the areas of star and planet formation. He leads a
team of researchers who will use the Space Interferometer Mission (SIM) to find
planets orbiting newly formed stars and is the project scientist for the
Terrestrial Planet Finder mission. As Director of the Infrared Processing and
Analysis Center (IPAC, 1991-1998) he worked on the IRAS and ISO missions and
led the software development for the 2 Micron All Sky Survey. As Chief
Scientist for Astronomy and Physics at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, he helped
to develop NASA's Origins program, the goal of which is the search for planets
beyond our solar system.
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