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Program News and Announcements

31 October 2023

Habitable Worlds Observatory START & TAG Kick-Off Meeting on October 31 – November 2

The Science, Technology, and Architecture Review Team (START) and the Technical Assessment Group (TAG) for the Habitable Worlds Observatory will meet together in Washington, D.C., on October 31 – November 2. The tentative meeting schedule and WebEx connection information are below. For more information about START and TAG activities, please join our HWO community slack workspace and sign up for our HWO News email list by sending an email to hwo-news-join@lists.nasa.gov with the word "join" in the subject or body.

Connection information

The WebEx meeting is open to the public and will be recorded. We will post the WebEx recordings after the meeting. Please use this information instead:

Join WebEx Meeting
Meeting number: 2763 836 0009
Password: nressHD23! (67377432 from phones and video systems)

Meeting Agenda

Tuesday, October 31, 2023 (all times ET)

  • 9:00am – 9:05am: Welcome (Julie Crooke, NASA HQ)
  • 9:05am – 9:20am: Why We Are Here (John O’Meara, W.M. Keck Observatory)
  • 9:20am – 9:40am: Meeting Goals & Plans (Courtney Dressing, UC Berkeley)
  • 9:40am – 10:20am: NASA Mission Development 101 (John Ziemer, JPL)
  • 10:20am – 10:40am: HQ Perspective on HWO & GOMAP (Mark Clampin, NASA HQ)
  • 11:25am – 11:50am: START & TAG Scope (Shawn Domagal-Goldman, NASA HQ)
  • 11:50am – 12:15pm: Systems Engineering and the Road to Phase A (Mike Menzel, GSFC)
  • 1:35pm – 2:00pm: Lessons for the Future: SMD Large Mission Study & LUVOIR (Aki Roberge, GSFC)
  • 2:00pm – 2:25pm: Lessons for the Future: HabEx (Bertrand Menesson, JPL & Scott Gaudi, The Ohio State University)
  • 3:25pm – 4:00pm: Breakout Reports & Discussion: Year 1 Goals (START & TAG)

Wednesday, November 1, 2023 (all times ET)

  • 9:00am – 9:05am: Welcome Back & Logistics (Julie Crooke, NASA HQ & Shawn Domagal-Goldman, NASA HQ)
  • 9:05am – 9:55am: Lessons for the Future; JWST (Lee Feinberg, GSFC & Jane Rigby, GSFC)
  • 9:55am –10:30am: Lessons for the Future: Roman (Feng Zhao, JPL & Matt Bolcar, GSFC)
  • 1:50pm – 2:25pm: Lessons for the Future: Industry Panel Featuring Charlie Atkinson, (Northrop Grumman), Matthew East (L3Harris), Alison Nordt (Lockheed Martin), & Erik Wilkinson (Ball Aerospace)
  • 2:25pm – 3:00pm: Connecting with the NASA Program Offices (Swara Ravindranath, Eric Mamajek, Jason Derleth, & Nick Siegler)
  • 4:15pm – 5:00pm: Breakout Reports & Discussion: Plans & Working Groups (START & TAG)

Thursday November 2, 2023 (all times ET)

  • 9:00am – 9:05am: Welcome Back & Logistics (Julie Crooke, NASA HQ & Shawn Domagal-Goldman, NASA HQ)
  • 9:05am – 9:25am: Mentorship Program and Workforce Development Workshop (Courtney Dressing, UC Berkeley & Julie Crooke, NASA HQ)
  • 10:40am –11:10am: Communications & Outreach Planning (Shawn Domagal-Goldman, NASA HQ & Alise Fischer, NASA HQ)
  • 1:45pm – 2:30pm: Breakout Reports & Discussion: Mentorship & Outreach (START & TAG)
  • 2:30pm – 3:00pm: Meeting Wrap: Deliverables, Actions, & Next Steps (Julie Crooke, NASA HQ & Shawn Domagal-Goldman, NASA HQ)
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