Planet-hunters seek cheap missions

Analyzing the designs of planet finding missions

We present an extended framework for the analysis of direct detection planet finding missions using space telescopes. We describe the components of a design reference mission (DRM), including the complete description of an arbitrary planetary system, the description of a planet finding instrument, and the modeling of an observation at an arbitrary time. These components are coupled with a decis...

Microbial Morphology and Motility as Biosignatures for Outer Planet Missions

Meaningful motion is an unambiguous biosignature, but because life in the Solar System is most likely to be microbial, the question is whether such motion may be detected effectively on the micrometer scale. Recent results on microbial motility in various Earth environments have provided insight into the physics and biology that determine whether and how microorganisms as small as bacteria and ...

Technologies for Outer Planet Missions: A Companion to the Outer Planet Assessment Group (OPAG) Strategic Exploration White Paper

A long - run assessment of journal publications #

We examine the publications of authors affiliated with an economics research institution in Canada in (i) the Top-10 journals in economics according to journals’ impact factors, and (ii) the Canadian Journal of Economics. We consider all publications in the even years from 1980 to 2000. Canadian economists contributed about 5% of publications in the Top-10 journals and about 55% of publications...

Stellar Aspects of Habitability – Characterizing Target Stars for Terrestrial Planet Search Missions

In this paper we present and discuss the criteria for selecting potential target stars suitable for the search for Earth like planets, with a special emphasis on the stellar aspects of habitability. Missions that search for terrestrial exoplanets will explore the presence and habitability of Earth-like exoplanets around several hundred nearby stars, mainly F, G, K, and M stars. The evaluation o...