Notice of upcoming call for community input into the TESS Extended Mission Planning

News article posted on by Rebekah Hounsell

The TESS mission will be inviting the community's input on science cases that should be prioritized in TESS's future extended missions. The purpose of this announcement is to give the community advance notice of this upcoming opportunity to provide input to the TESS extended mission planning.

The format of requested input will be a short 1-2 paragraph "science pitch" submitted via a Google Form, similar to the science pitches solicited in 2023 for the definition of the Roman Space Telescope's Core Community Surveys.

The draft call for community input can be found here. The official call for community input into the extended mission plan is expected to be released May 1, 2024. The anticipated submission deadline for science pitches is June 14, 2024.

TESS science spans many areas of astrophysics and solar system science. As such, researchers from around the world, across all career stages, positions, and types of institutions are encouraged to submit their ideas.

The TESS mission will use the science pitches to inform planning for TESS's third extended mission and beyond. The third extended mission is expected to occur September 2025-September 2028, contingent upon the outcome of the 2025 Astrophysics Senior Review.