Presentation #311.03 in the session Multi-Faceted Views of Planet Formation I: Establishing the conditions for planet formation.
The 2020 US Astrophysics Decadal Survey (Astro2020) has laid out a path to a new fleet of multi-wavelength Great Observatories, including the first telescope that can find out if planets like the Earth are common or rare and search them for signs of global biospheres. The powerful capabilities of these future space telescopes can also enable revolutionary studies of planet-forming disks and young planetary systems. In this talk, I’ll briefly review the pre-Decadal large mission concepts most relevant for planet formation observations — LUVOIR, HabEx, and Origins. Some key planet formation science applications of these concepts will be discussed. Finally, I’ll highlight near-term opportunities for the community to guide development of these mission concepts and ensure that the capabilities needed to transform our understanding of planet formation & evolution will be available in the future.