Meet the Observatory of Habitable Worlds, the organization…

Results interpretation

HWO will examine the atmospheres of at least 25 potentially habitable worlds, looking for biosignatures that could indicate the presence of life.

Biosignature detection requires context, to avoid being fooled by non-life processes. Key terrestrial biosignatures sought by HWO will include oxygen, ozone and methane, although others are also being studied. Scientists will need to apply what they know about the planets and moons of our own solar system to interpret conditions on the exoplanets observed by HWO.

“This type of ‘ground truth’ is very important when we are looking for life,” Quick said. “In order to understand how the prospects for life on Earth-like exoplanets may be affected by geological processes on their surfaces, we must first understand how geological processes on Earth and potentially habitable bodies in our solar system, such as Europe, Mars and Titan. , have affected their ability to support life over time.

Conceptual work on HWO takes place within two teams: START (Science, Technology, Architecture Review Team), which works on the scientific objectives of the telescope, and TAG (Technical Assessment Group), which works on the technical requirements.

In official NASA language, the project is in its pre-formulation phase. A project office at NASA Headquarters is expected to be established this year, moving HWO to “pre-phase A” status.

It will take years to evolve the technologies needed to build the HWO and prepare the telescope for launch. But one day, in the not-so-distant future, the observatory could observe a star system similar to ours and detect the first signs of life on another world.