Bio:
John M. Grunsfeld is an astronaut and scientist with extensive experience in space science missions, and national space policy. He has served as a NASA astronaut, the Associate Administrator for Science, and Chief Scientist at NASA Headquarters. Previously he served as the Deputy Director of the Space Telescope Science Institute, which manages the science program for the Hubble Space Telescope and the forthcoming James Webb Space Telescope. Grunsfeld’s scientific research is in planetary science and the emerging field of exoplanet studies with specific interest in the search for life beyond Earth.

Grunsfeld flew on five space shuttle flights, (STS-67, STS-81, STS-103, STS-109, and STS-125) of which three flights were to the Hubble Space Telescope. He performed eight spacewalks to service and upgrade the Hubble observatory.

Dr. Grunsfeld graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1980 with a bachelor's degree in physics. He earned a master's degree and, in 1988, a doctorate in physics from the University of Chicago. From Chicago, he joined the faculty of the California Institute of Technology as a Senior Research Fellow in Physics, Mathematics and Astronomy. After his astronaut career he was appointed a Professor of Physics at Johns Hopkins University in 2010.

Bio:
Olivier Guyon is an astronomer and optical scientist at the Subaru Telescope, the University of Arizona, and the Japanese Astrobiology Center, and chairs the Breakthrough Watch advisory committee. Olivier develops innovative techniques for detecting and characterizing Extrasolar planets with current and future telescopes on the ground and in space. His research includes coronagraphy, wavefront sensing techniques for Adaptive Optics, and astrometry. He received the US Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers and the MacArthur fellowship for his innovative contributions to astronomical Optics. He is currently leading the Subaru Coronagraphic Extreme Adaptive Optics (SCExAO) group at the 8.2m Subaru Telescope. He is also an avid amateur astronomer and citizen science enthusiast.

Abstract:
Although Astronomers have now discovered exoplanets by the thousand, we are poorly equipped to find the most promising of all: earth-analogues within their immediate solar neighbourhood. It has long been realised that astrometric detection is the most promising technical avenue to open a window into this sought-after sector of the exoplanetary canvas. However, detection of temperate-orbit rocky planets around nearby sun-like stars remains beyond the limits even for ambitious missions such as GAIA. The TOLIMAN space telescope is a low-cost, agile mission concept that grew out of the Breakthrough Watch program. It will be dedicated to astrometric detection of exoplanets within a few parsecs, particularly (but not exclusively) targeting the Alpha Cen system itself. It accomplishes a measurement normally thought to require a significantly larger instrument by deploying an innovative optical and signal encoding architecture. Small cubesat demonstrator TinyTol is awaiting launch later in 2021, while the second mission in the TOLIMAN program, a funded 10cm space telescope scheduled to fly in 2023, is now under construction. This talk covers the science and innovative technology of astrometric detection, as well as prospects for the future.

Bio:
Professor Celine Boehm is an astroparticle physicist who has worked in the UK (Oxford, Durham), France (CNRS), Switzerland (CERN), Canada (Perimeter institute) and Australia (USYD). She is renowned for her work across cosmology, particle physics and astroparticle physics, and has collaborators all over the world. She has been the lead of the space mission consortium ESA/Theia (leading more than 200 researchers in the collaboration) and is currently the Head of School of Physics (about 300 members) at the University of Sydney. She has published 106 papers that have attracted more than 7400 citations thus far and has a h-index of 41 (from inspire-hep). She has supervised 18 PhD students and 6 postdoctoral students, as well as taught and trained large cohorts of undergraduate students. She has won many grants/prizes, including an ARC Centre of Excellence (CoEDM) as a CI. She has also made significant contributions to science communication, including speaking at TEDx and running science engagement activities across Europe.

Abstract:

Giant exoplanets on wide orbits have been directly imaged around young stars. If the thermal background in the mid-infrared can be mitigated, then exoplanets with lower masses can also be imaged. This talk will describe the Breakthrough Watch/NEAR program: a ground-based mid-infrared observing approach that enables imaging low-mass temperate exoplanets within the closest stellar system, α Centauri. Based on 100 hours of cumulative observations with the VLT, this method demonstrated sensitivity to warm sub-Neptune-sized planets throughout much of the habitable zone of α Centauri A, which is an order of magnitude more sensitive than state-of-the-art exoplanet imaging mass detection limits. We’ll discuss the possibility of a detection in the dataset, the lessons of NEAR as a pathfinder experiment for other facilities (in particular the LBT and ELTs), and implications for the future of imaging rocky habitable-zone exoplanets from the ground.

Bio:

Dr. Kevin Wagner is a NASA Sagan Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Arizona’s Steward Observatory. His research focuses on studying planets around nearby stars through direct imaging, with a long-term goal of finding and characterizing potentially life-supporting planets. Much of his recent work is centered on studying young planets and planetary systems in the process of formation. As these young systems are much brighter than those around main sequence stars, they provide a glimpse into the larger population of exoplanets that we have yet to find. Observations of these young systems also allow us to refine the techniques that are needed to image fainter worlds, which make up the majority of the exoplanet population. Currently, Dr. Wagner is working on techniques to directly image thermal emission radiated by temperate habitable-zone exoplanets in the mid-infrared. He is the principal investigator of a large program with the LBT in Arizona and a member of the NEAR collaboration, which recently demonstrated the potential of mid-infrared exoplanet imaging and completed a crucial step towards imaging planets that could potentially support life.

Bio:
Andrew Siemion is an astrophysicist and director of the Berkeley SETI Research Center. His research interests include high energy time-variable celestial phenomena, astronomical instrumentation and the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI). Andrew is the Principal Investigator for the Breakthrough Listen program. Siemion received his B.A. (2008) M.A. (2010) and Ph.D. (2012) in astrophysics from the University of California, Berkeley. In 2018, Siemion was named the Bernard M. Oliver Chair for SETI at the SETI Institute.[5] Siemion is jointly affiliated with Radboud University Nijmegen and the University of Malta. Also in 2018, he was elected to the International Academy of Astronautics as a Corresponding Member for Basic Sciences. In September 2015, Siemion testified on the current status of astrobiology to the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the United States Congress.

Abstract:
When we observe the first terrestrial exoplanet atmospheres, we expect to find planets around a wide range of stellar types, UV environments, and geological conditions. Since the first exoplanets available for characterization will be likely for M dwarf host stars, understanding the UV environment of these cool stars is a vital step in understanding the atmospheres of these planets. Additionally, the atmospheres of these planets will not been fixed in time. Earth itself offers an example of many possible atmospheric states of a planet. We set out to examine how an Earth-like planet at different geological epochs might look around other star types.

Bio:
Dr. Sarah Rugheimer is an astrophysicist at the University of Oxford working on how to detect life on an exoplanet by looking for atmospheric biosignatures. Here research interests are modelling the atmosphere and climate of extrasolar planets, with a particular focus on atmospheric biosignatures in Earth-like planets as well as modelling early Earth conditions. In 2020 she was selected as a TED Fellow and previously has been awarded the Barrie Jones Award and the BSA Rosalind Franklin Lectureship in 2019, and the Caroline Herschel Lectureship in 2018.

Abstract:
The aim of the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) is to find technologically-capable life beyond Earth through their technosignatures. On 29 April 2019, the Breakthrough Listen SETI project observed Proxima Centauri with the Murriyang radio telescope. Spectral analysis of these data revealed a narrowband signal with characteristics broadly consistent with a technosignature near 982 MHz ('blc1'). However, human-generated radio interference is ubiquitous, requiring exhaustive analysis of any signal-of-interest. In this presentation, I will argue that blc1 is not a technosignature, but rather an electronically-drifting intermodulation product of time-varying interferers coincidentally aligned with the observing cadence. We find that blc1 is not consistent with the barycentric drift expected from the direction of ProxCen, nor with any accelerating physical human-made object. We also find dozens of instances of radio interference with similar morphologies to blc1 at harmonically-related frequencies to common clock oscillators. These newly-discovered complex intermodulation products highlight that extreme care must be taken when reporting signals-of-interest.

Bio:
Sofia Sheikh is a final-year, dual-title Ph.D. candidate in astronomy and astrobiology at the Pennsylvania State University. She completed her undergraduate degree at University of California, Berkeley in 2017, where she first began her technosignature work with the Breakthrough Listen group. Since then, she has continued working in the fields of technosignatures and pulsar astronomy. Sofia is the graduate student mentor for the Penn State branch of the Pulsar Search Collaboratory, one of the founding members of the Penn State Extraterrestrial Intelligence Center (PSETI Center), and soon to be the first woman in STEM to obtain a Ph.D. with a SETI thesis. Sofia strives to make astronomy more diverse and inclusive via her involvement in Women and Underrepresented Genders in Astronomy at Penn State (W+iA) and various climate and diversity initiatives. She will begin work as a postdoctoral fellow at Breakthrough Listen in July 2021.

Bio:

Bethany is Professor of Planetary Science at Caltech and served many years as a NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory research scientist. Bethany’s research focuses on the mineralogy and chemistry of planetary surfaces, remote sensing techniques and instruments, astrobiology, and science policy and outreach. She is principal investigator of the NASA Lunar Trailblazer small satellite mission to map water on the Moon, with flight system delivery scheduled in October 2022. Much of her other recent scientific work has focused on unraveling Mars' environmental history using Mars rovers Spirit, Opportunity, Curiosity, Perseverance and the CRISM imaging spectrometer on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. She was also an affiliate of the Dawn orbiter team during its exploration of Ceres. She is co-investigator on the upcoming EMIT mission, a space station-based imaging spectrometer to explore dust source regions, and is working to propose mission concepts for ocean worlds, Venus, and asteroids. Bethany is a 2013 National Geographic Emerging Explorer, a former Mineralogical Society of America Distinguished Lecturer, a recipient of the American Geophysical Union’s Macelwane medal, the American Astronomical Society Planetary Science Division Urey prize, COSPAR’s Zeldovich medal as well as NASA Group Achievement Awards.

Bio:
John M. Grunsfeld is an astronaut and scientist with extensive experience in space science missions, and national space policy. He has served as a NASA astronaut, the Associate Administrator for Science, and Chief Scientist at NASA Headquarters. Previously he served as the Deputy Director of the Space Telescope Science Institute, which manages the science program for the Hubble Space Telescope and the forthcoming James Webb Space Telescope. Grunsfeld’s scientific research is in planetary science and the emerging field of exoplanet studies with specific interest in the search for life beyond Earth.

Grunsfeld flew on five space shuttle flights, (STS-67, STS-81, STS-103, STS-109, and STS-125) of which three flights were to the Hubble Space Telescope. He performed eight spacewalks to service and upgrade the Hubble observatory.

Dr. Grunsfeld graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1980 with a bachelor's degree in physics. He earned a master's degree and, in 1988, a doctorate in physics from the University of Chicago. From Chicago, he joined the faculty of the California Institute of Technology as a Senior Research Fellow in Physics, Mathematics and Astronomy. After his astronaut career he was appointed a Professor of Physics at Johns Hopkins University in 2010.

Abstract:
An alternative to a gram-scale flyby probe is a ng-scale probe that could land, replicate and produce an IR communications module based on minerals at the destination (via synthetic biology). A billion such probes could be launched for similar cost as a single gram-scale probe. One design is a spherical highly reflective sail, decelerated by collisions with interstellar hydrogen, then attracted to the gravitational well of the stars and then photon-deflected to the closest non-luminous mass (Proxima Centauri b).

Bio:
George Church is Professor of Genetics at Harvard Medical School and Director of PersonalGenomes.org, which provides the world's only open-access information on human Genomic, Environmental & Trait data (GET). His 1984 Harvard PhD included the first methods for direct genome sequencing, molecular multiplexing & barcoding. These led to the first genome sequence (pathogen, Helicobacter pylori) in 1994 . His innovations have contributed to nearly all "next generation" DNA sequencing methods and companies (CGI-BGI, Life, Illumina, Nanopore). This, plus his lab's work on chip-DNA-synthesis, gene editing and stem cell engineering resulted in the founding of additional application-based companies spanning the fields of medical diagnostics (Knome/PierianDx, Alacris, AbVitro/Juno, Genos, Veritas Genetics ) & synthetic biology / therapeutics ( Joule, Gen9, Editas, Egenesis, enEvolv, WarpDrive ). He has also pioneered new privacy, biosafety, ELSI, environmental & biosecurity policies. He is director of an IARPA BRAIN Project and NIH Center for Excellence in Genomic Science. His honors include election to NAS & NAE & Franklin Bower Laureate for Achievement in Science. He has coauthored 537 papers, 156 patent publications & one book (Regenesis).

Bio:
Harry Atwater is the Howard Hughes Professor of Applied Physics and Materials Science at the California Institute of Technology. Atwater’s scientific effort focuses on nanophotonic light-matter interactions. His work spans fundamental nanophotonic phenomena and applications, including optical propulsion and active wavefront shaping of light using metasurfaces, as well as solar energy conversion. Atwater was an early pioneer in nanophotonics and plasmonics; he gave the name to the field of plasmonics in 2001. He is Chair of the LightSail Committee for the Breakthrough Starshot program. Currently Atwater is also the Director for the Liquid Sunlight Alliance (LiSA), a Department of Energy Hub program for solar fuels, and is also the founding Editor-in-Chief of the journal ACS Photonics. Atwater is a Member of the US National Academy of Engineering, and a Web of Science Highly Cited Researcher.

Abstract:
Remote observations throughout the Milky Way are currently the only way to assess our state of knowledge about the interstellar medium and anything beyond our solar system. Current and next generation ground and space-based telescopes are attempting to constrain the physical conditions of various astrophysical regions/objects as well as address key questions of chemical complexity, including the origin of life and habitability. The state-of-the-art technologies and facilities are being pushed by these questions and include extremely large telescopes that use space-based “stars” to get unprecedented resolution, large space telescopes assembled by robots or astronauts, and detectors that perform at the quantum limit. This presentation will discuss the current understanding of the physical/chemical properties of the interstellar medium, specifically our nearest neighbor system, Alpha Centauri, and where new technologies may lead to further our understanding.

Bio:
Dr. Milam works in the Astrochemistry Laboratory at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. She is an expert in spectroscopy, observations, and laboratory modeling of the interstellar medium, evolved stars, star formation regions, and comets, with an emphasis on isotopic fractionation and astrobiology of primitive materials. Dr. Milam maintains a renowned observational program with radio telescopes around the world, and with space-based observatories, to routinely observe comets as part of an international collaboration. Additionally, she conducts high resolution spectroscopic studies of evolved stars, star forming regions, and the Galactic interstellar medium, specializing in isotopes. She also has a laboratory dedicated to simulating interstellar/cometary/planetary ices and detecting trace species, employing the same techniques used for remote observations to help constrain the chemical complexity of the ices and the amount of processing that occurs, as well as to interpret past and present data from missions. Dr. Milam has been working on the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) as Deputy Project Scientist for Planetary Science since 2014. She has also lead the study team for solar system science for the Roman Space Telescope (formerly WFIRST), is a member of the Origins Space Telescope Science and Technology Definition Team, and works on future instrumentation for SOFIA, as well as other projects.

Abstract:
Over the past two decades space optical communications from low-earth orbit (LEO) to lunar distances have been demonstrated by multiple space agencies including NASA. The progression of increasing range of communication always involves increased difficulty defined as the product of megabits per second and distance squared. The next planned demonstration from distances approximating the Mars range, by the JPL Deep Space Optical Communication (DSOC) Project, represents a significant departure in both the operational architecture and the suite of technologies. These departures were necessitated to achieve photon-efficient communications that can deliver a data-rate boost while utilizing resources comparable to state-of-the-art telecommunications systems. The deep space optical link design drivers and the corresponding implementations will be discussed briefly. While DSOC represents an enticing leap in technology, interplanetary optical communications is still in its formative stages. Some of the key shortfalls in infrastructure and technology will be identified. Finally, some stretch concepts for communications across inter-stellar distances formulated at a Caltech/JPL KISS workshop will be shared. (Authors: Abhijit Biswas and Tom Roberts)

Bio:
Tom Roberts grew up in Huntsville, Alabama, the son of one of the early NASA physicists at Marshall Space Flight Center. He was so enamored of NASA’s Mercury, Gemini and Apollo programs, it was often remarked that he had nothing in his head but space. He earned Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in physics at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, followed by a Ph.D. in Optical Sciences at the University of of Arizona. Since then, Tom has been part of the Optical Communications Group at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, where he has contributed to projects such as the Mars Laser Communications Demonstration, the ChemCam instrument on the Curiosity Rover, and the Lunar Laser Communications Demonstration. He designed the optics of the Deep Space Optical Communications flight transceiver (which you will hear about today), and worked on the beam forming optics for the primary optical ground station (OGS-1) for the Laser Communications Relay Demonstration. He is now the Project Manager for the OGS-1 development.

Bio:
Penelope Boston is Director of the NASA Astrobiology Institute (NASA Ames Research Center). From 2002-2016 she served as Associate Director of the National Cave and Karst Research Institute (Carlsbad, NM) and Professor and Chair of the Earth and Environmental Sciences Dept. at the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology (Socorro, NM). Research areas include geomicrobiology and astrobiology in extreme environments (especially caves and mines, hot and cold deserts, high latitudes and altitudes); geological processes creating caves on other planets and moons; human life support issues in space and planetary environments; and use of robotics and other technologies to assist exploration and advance science in extreme Earth and extraterrestrial environments. She holds a PhD from the University of Colorado, Boulder. Boston received the 2010 Lifetime Science Award from the National Speleological Society, and the Caving Legend Award from the Ft. Stanton Cave Study Project/Bureau of Land Management.

Bio:
Simon Peter “Pete” Worden, (Brig. Gen., USAF, Ret., PhD) is the Chairman of the Breakthrough Prize Foundation and Executive Director of the foundation’s Breakthrough Initiatives. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Physics and Astronomy from the University of Michigan and a PhD in Astronomy from the University of Arizona. Prior to joining the Breakthrough Prize Foundation, Dr. Worden was Director of NASA’s Ames Research Center at Moffett Field, California until his retirement on March 31, 2015. He has held several positions in the United States Air Force and was research professor of astronomy at the University of Arizona, Tucson, USA. He is a recognized expert on space and science issues, both civil and military, and has been a leader in building partnerships between governments and the private sector internationally.