$\pi^-p \rightarrow \pi^-p$ and $\pi^-p \rightarrow K\Lambda$ measurements in the 1700 MeV mass region*

An experimental program is underway at ITEP in Moscow to measure differential cross sections for $\pi^-p \rightarrow \pi^-p$ and $\pi^-p \rightarrow K\Lambda$ at pion momenta 900 -- 1200 MeV/$c$ ($\sqrt{s}$ = 1610 -- 1770 MeV). For the elastic measurement the outgoing pion and proton will be measured using scintillator hodoscopes and drift chambers over a cm angle range of 40$^{\circ}$ -- 120$^{\circ}$. For the $K\Lambda$ final state, the decay vertices for $K \rightarrow \pi^+\pi^-$ and $\Lambda \rightarrow \pi^-p$ will be reconstructed using drift chambers to identify the events. A statistical precision of $0.5\%$ and $1.0\%$ is planned for the elastic and strangeness production measurements, respectively. The incident beam momenta will be binned in 1 MeV/$c$ increments to provide a mass resolution of 0.5 MeV in order to be sensitive to narrow resonances such as the possible non-strange pentaquark partner that has been predicted to have a mass near 1700 MeV. Irrespective of the pentaquark situation, the measurements will greatly improve the data upon which the properties of the conventional N*(1710) resonance are determined.