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The Habitable Worlds Observatory in Historical Context

Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics 2026-02-17 v1
Authors: Marc Postman , Karl Stapelfeldt
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Abstract

We summarize the past four decades of astrophysics and exoplanet direct imaging mission concept studies, technology developments, and scientific progress that have led to the initiation of the Habitable Worlds Observatory project by NASA.

Cite

@article{arxiv.2602.14823,
  title  = {The Habitable Worlds Observatory in Historical Context},
  author = {Marc Postman and Karl Stapelfeldt},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2602.14823},
  year   = {2026}
}

Comments

10 pages. To be published in the proceedings "Towards the Habitable Worlds Observatory: Visionary Science and Transformational Technology"

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R2 v1 2026-07-01T10:38:38.312Z