1) JPL's Astrophysics History and Ambitions
2) Planet formation studies with JWST

1)
Dr. Jason Rhodes
Jet Propulsion Laboratory

2)
Dr. Klaus Pontoppidan
Jet Propulsion Laboratory

1) I will discuss JPL's history as an astrophysics mission implementation center and JPL's ambitions for the future in this area. Starting in the 1990s, JPL made a Pushto become a key player in NASA astrophysics mission development. Over the past 30 years JPL has led or partnered on key missions including HST, Spitzer, JWST, Planck, NuStar, WISE, SPHERex, Roman, ARIEL, and Euclid. This has been made possible by key investments in several technologies, including detectors for CMB, IR, and UV observations, wavefront sensing and control, and starlight suppression. JPL has ambitions for future missions that include PRIMA and the ambitious Habitable Worlds Observatory, in some cases with JPL leading and in others with JPL as a critical partner. JPL is also seeking to chart the path forward for future discovery in key areas defined as 'Transformational Science Challenges (TSCs).' These TSCs include understanding the history of planet formation, the search for life and habitability, and understanding dark energy, dark matter, and cosmic inflation. Addressing these challenges will require creating and sustaining partnerships with agencies around the world.

2) It is evident that the bulk chemical composition of exoplanets is intimately linked to their birth environment. However, it remains an open question to which degree exoplanetary atmospheric chemistry retains direct signatures of the bulk composition of planetary regions, for instance in terms of elemental ratios of carbon and oxygen. Our understanding of the physics and chemistry of planet-forming regions in the inner parts of protoplanetary disks is currently undergoing a revolution due to the incredible spectroscopic data returned from JWST-MIRI and NIRSpec. JWST surveys have now targeted hundreds of planet-forming disks, and a new understanding of the physics and chemistry of planet formation is emerging. I will provide an overview of recent results and discuss how these are driving the science cases of future infrared space telescopes, including PRIMA.

Conference Hall (2nd floor/ Research and Administration Building A),　Via Zoom