Description
The Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO) has been selected by NASA as its next flagship space astronomy mission. A principal scientific goal of HWO is to search for Earth-like planets in our interstellar neighbourhood and characterise their surfaces and/or atmospheres through direct spectroscopic observations in the search for evidence of life processes. This programme will answer the question “Are We Alone?”, one of the most exciting and fundamental in modern science. If no direct evidence for life is found, by surveying a sufficiently large population of objects, it will be possible to provide important and interesting constraints on the presence of life in the Galaxy. HWO will also be a general-purpose observatory able to provide revolutionary capability in many areas of astrophysics and planetary science. While the timescale for the development, build and launch of HWO is around 15 years (expected launch early 2040s), mission planning is underway. The UK Space Agency has had a series of active engagements with the US and other potential partners with a view to making a UK-led instrument contribution. Two UK meetings, have been held, to engage with the UK community and develop the academic and industry collaborations required to support the UK component. STFC support has been obtained to enable the development of a UK instrument and scientific consortium over the next 2 years. This talk will present an update on the NASA HWO programme, the status of STFC/UKSA activities and the roadmap for the next phases of the project.
