Theodore von Karman Lecture

Thursday, May 21, 2015

7:00pm to 8:00pm

JPL, von Karman Auditorium

The Search for Planets, Habitability, and Life in our Galaxy

Nick Siegler, Technology Manager, NASA Exoplanet Exploration Program, JPL,

What will the first evidence of life outside our own solar system look like? And what future technologies are required to discover that evidence?

Exoplanet-hunting space-borne telescopes must suppress the bright glare from stars up to ten billion times in order to directly image the faint reflected light from a planet and look for tell-tale signatures of life. To tackle this challenge, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory is developing two novel starlight suppression approaches: 1) coronagraphs (an internal occulter) and 2) starshades (an external occulter). We will discuss where these technologies are today, and how they must evolve in order to support possible exoplanet missions in the next decade and beyond.

This event is free and open to the public. Seating is on a first come, first served basis.

For more information, please contact JPL Public Service Office by phone at 818-354-1234 or visit http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/events/lectures.php.

Event Series

Theodore von Kármán Lecture Series

Event Sponsors

Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) More Events from this Sponsor