Dr. Michael Shao
Jet Propulsion Laboratory

University of Florida Astronomy Colloquium - Feb 22nd, 2006

The Space Interferometry Mission and Search for Extra Solar Planets

SIM is a NASA astrometry mission that will be capable of measuring angles between stars with 1 microarcsec accuracy to search for Terrestrial planets around nearby stars. Last year the project completed its last technology milestone to demonstrate the needed technology. Roughly 60% of the science time on SIM has been allocated for 10 key projects that range from planets around nearby stars to QSO's. In addition to SIM my group at JPL in engaged in a number of small activities aimed at direct detection of exoplanets, from ground based extreme AO coronagraph to space based searches.