Integration and verification of the Terrestrial Planet Finder coronagraphic observatory

The goal of the Terrestrial Planet Finder (TPF) mission is to detect and characterize terrestrial exoplanets at visible wavelengths. One approach combines an 8m by 3.5m aperture telescope with a coronagraph (TPF-C) to obtain the required planet to parent star contrast. The proposed design places severe constraints on alignment tolerances and requires optics of the highest possible quality. The integration, test and verification of the observatory will require extraordinary procedures. This paper is an initial attempt to outline a plausible program to verify before launch the in-orbit performance requirements.