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The Habitable Worlds Observatory in Historical Context

Marc Postman, Karl Stapelfeldt

Abstract

We summarize the past four decades of astrophysics and exoplanet direct imaging mission concept studies, technology developments, and scientific progress that have led to the initiation of the Habitable Worlds Observatory project by NASA.

The Habitable Worlds Observatory in Historical Context

Abstract

We summarize the past four decades of astrophysics and exoplanet direct imaging mission concept studies, technology developments, and scientific progress that have led to the initiation of the Habitable Worlds Observatory project by NASA.
Paper Structure (5 sections, 1 figure)

This paper contains 5 sections, 1 figure.

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. The First Great Observatories and the Birth of Observational Exoplanet Science (1980 - 2005)
  3. Expanding Support: Joint Astrophysics -- Exoplanet Imaging Mission Concepts (2006 - 2015)
  4. Realizing the Mission (2016 - 2025)
  5. Closing Thoughts

Figures (1)

  • Figure 2: Concept drawings of four of the large-aperture direct imaging space telescopes envisioned and studied over the past 25 years. Note that the separation depicted here between the starshade and the HabEx spacecraft is not to scale. The starshade would typically be tens of thousands of km from the telescope.