NASA Exoplanet Science Institute
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Type of site
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Astronomy |
|---|---|
| Created by | Operated for NASA at Caltech |
| Website | http://nexsci.caltech.edu/ |
| Current status | Active |
The NASA Exoplanet Science Institute (NExScI) is part of the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center (IPAC) and is on the campus of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in Pasadena, CA. NExScI was formerly known as the Michelson Science Center and before that as the Interferometry Science Center. It was renamed NExScI in the Fall of 2008 to reflect NASA's growing interest in the search for planets outside of our solar system, also known as exoplanets. The executive director of NExScI is Charles A. Beichman.
NExScI is the science, operations, and analysis service organization for the NASA Exoplanet Exploration Program and the scientists and engineers that use them. NExScI facilitates the timely and successful execution of exoplanet science by providing software infrastructure, science operations, and consulting to Exoplanet Exploration Program projects and their user communities.
The activities and programs that NExScI oversees and manages are described in more detail in this article.
The Sagan Program is administered for the Exoplanet Exploration Program by NExScI, and it includes both the Sagan Fellowship Program and the Sagan Exoplanet Summer Workshop. The Sagan Fellowships [1] are one of three themed postdoctoral fellowships that are part of the Astrophysics Science Directorate. The Sagan Fellowships [2] support Exoplanet research, and are joined by two other NASA astrophysics theme-based fellowship programs: the Einstein Fellowship Program which supports Physics of the Cosmos research, and the Hubble Fellowship Program which supports Cosmic Origins research. Applications to the Sagan Postdoctoral Program are accepted in the Fall of each year with typically 5-7 offers made by the following February. The fellowships are for three years with annual renewal contingent upon performance and funding.
Summer Workshops are also part of the Sagan Exoplanet Program and offer a chance to graduate students and postdocs to explore an exoplanet-related topic in depth. The workshops have been offered since 1999 (prior to 2009 they were known as the Michelson Summer Workshops). Recent topics of the summer workshops are Stars as Homes for Habitable Planets, Exoplanetary Atmospheres and Microlensing.
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