NASA has recently announced the selection of three industry proposals to assist in the development of future large space telescopes and in the planning of the agency’s Habitable Worlds Observatory mission concept. This represents a significant advancement in our quest to discover the existence of life beyond our solar system.
The primary objective of the mission is to directly capture images of Earth-like planets orbiting stars similar to our Sun and to analyze their atmospheres for signs of life. This mission also presents opportunities for further exploration of our solar system and the universe. At present, the agency is in the early planning stages for this mission concept, with community-wide working groups delving into its fundamental scientific goals and the most effective approach to achieve them. In order to facilitate this process, NASA is establishing a Habitable Worlds Observatory Technology Maturation project office at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.
According to Mark Clampin, the director of the Astrophysics Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington, “The Habitable Worlds Observatory will be an unprecedented mission, and as such, we are taking a deliberate and strategic approach to its development by laying the groundwork now.” He also stressed the importance of bringing together diverse expertise from government, academia, and industry and leveraging technologies and lessons learned from previous large space telescopes. With the recent awards, NASA aims to engage industry in closing technology gaps and making this groundbreaking mission a reality.
In January 2024, NASA issued a call for industry proposals to advance key technologies necessary for the Habitable Worlds Observatory. The selected proposals encompass research into high-fidelity modeling and subsystem demonstrations, the advancement of integrated modeling infrastructure, and the maturation of technologies to support telescope functions. These contracts have a combined value of $17.5 million and are slated to commence by late summer 2024.
The selected proposals will serve to influence NASA’s strategy in the planning of the Habitable Worlds Observatory, drawing from technologies utilized in the James Webb Space Telescope and the future Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope while identifying areas for future investment.
For more information about NASA’s Habitable Worlds Observatory, please visit the NASA website or get in touch with:
Alise Fisher
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-2546
[email protected]