Pandora, a small satellite developed by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, is set to launch this fall. The mission will study the atmospheres of at least 20 exoplanets orbiting distant stars to determine their composition and search for signs of life. Pandora’s instruments will handle navigation, data acquisition, and communication with Earth.
The satellite’s near-infrared detector was originally developed for NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope but has been repurposed for Pandora. This detector will help separate the light from the host star from the signal of water in exoplanet atmospheres, allowing scientists to detect the presence of life.
When an exoplanet passes in front of its star, some of the star’s light interacts with the atmosphere, leaving a chemical fingerprint that can be detected by telescopes. However, stellar surfaces are not uniform and have varying brightness levels, making it challenging for telescopes to separate the signals.
Pandora will capture both the star’s visible brightness and near-infrared spectrum simultaneously, as well as obtain the transiting planet’s near-infrared spectrum. This combined data will enable scientists to determine the properties of stellar surfaces and cleanly separate star and planetary signals.
Over its year-long prime mission, Pandora will observe at least 20 exoplanets 10 times, with each observation lasting 24 hours. The mission is led by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory providing project management and engineering support.
Source: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/science/nasa-close-to-probing-alien-atmospheres-heres-all-you-need-to-know/articleshow/118090566.cms?from=mdr