TPF-I SWG Report - Exoplanet Exploration Program - NASA

C HAPTER 8
the flight-like hardware and software components that will be needed to safely operate a multi-spacecraft
interferometer with the necessary precision.
The scale of the TPF-I mission will be necessarily large, encompassing large cooled telescopes, multiple
spacecraft operated in precision formation, and complex optomechanical systems. But the recent years of
detailed study and technology development have revealed no fundamental impediments to carrying out
TPF-I. The biggest risk this program faces is a highly uncertain funding environment over the next few
years that threatens the steady technological progress that has been made.
Finally, it is important to note that the science and technology teams of the TPF Interferometer (NASA)
and the Darwin mission (European Space Agency) continue to maintain an excellent working
relationship. Both groups believe that it is in their mutual interest that the projects eventually be combined
in a single mission under a Memorandum of Understanding signed between NASA and ESA. Such a
formal working relationship is some years away, and in the meantime, each group is working separately
to build support for their efforts within their own community, with TPF-I progressing towards the next
Decadal Survey report and Darwin developing strong support within ESA's Cosmic Vision Program.
Through efforts in the near term the technical teams of TPF-I and Darwin are collaborating to arrive at a
common architecture for the interferometer.
With the strong public interest in the question of life beyond the Solar System, with the multi-disciplinary
scientific interest in understanding the formation and evolution of life in environments different from our
own, with the steady progress in key technologies, and with the promise of powerful capabilities for a
broad range of astrophysical investigations, it seems inevitable that missions like TPF-I will, someday, be
carried out.
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