Optical Systems Characterization and Analysis Research Project

Indirect ground-based have discovered greater than 100 exo-solar planets to date. These detections are inferred from Doppler shifts in the source spectrum due to radial velocity variations of the central star believed caused by the planetary mass in motion. Planets found by this technique are biased towards large mass Jupiter-like planets. Earthlike, or terrestrial, planets are unlikely to be found by this technique. Advances in space technology, which include high dynamic ranging imaging, interferometry, mirror technology and optical control systems are likely to make this a distinct possibility in the near future. These techniques are being assessed and new advances are being made by NASA, university and industry teams with the goal of combining them into TPF.