Engineering:Pandora Mission
The Pandora Mission, Pandora SmallSat, or Pandora, is a small satellite mission known as SmallSat, one of three orbital missions approved by NASA to pass to the next development phase in NASA's Astrophysics Pioneers program.[1][2][3] The budget for each mission was $20 million.[4]
The mission is intended to determine atmospheric compositions by observing exoplanets and their host stars at the same time in both visible and infrared light over long periods of time.[1][5]
The satellite will have sensitivity to identify exoplanets with hydrogen or water in present in their atmospheres, as well was what exoplanets are covered by clouds or hazes.[6] Pandora will observe 20 stars and their 39 exoplanets with sizes that range from Earth-size to Jupiter-size, and host stars ranging from mid-K to late-M spectral types.[7][8]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Center, NASA's Goddard Space Flight. "Pandora mission would expand NASA's capabilities in probing alien worlds" (in en). https://phys.org/news/2021-03-pandora-mission-nasa-capabilities-probing.html.
- ↑ "Astrophysics Pioneers | Science Mission Directorate". https://science.nasa.gov/astrophysics/programs/astrophysics-pioneers.
- ↑ "Probing Alien Worlds: NASA's Pandora Mission Builds on UArizona Research" (in en). 2021-03-24. https://news.arizona.edu/story/probing-alien-worlds-nasas-pandora-mission-builds-uarizona-research.
- ↑ Tomaswick, Andy (2021-01-26). "NASA has Chosen 4 new Pioneer Missions: Aspera, Pandora, StarBurst, and PEUO" (in en-US). https://www.universetoday.com/149824/nasa-has-chosen-4-new-pioneer-missions-aspera-pandora-starburst-and-peuo/.
- ↑ "Pandora mission to study stars and exoplanets continues toward flight" (in en). https://www.llnl.gov/news/pandora-mission-study-stars-and-exoplanets-continues-toward-flight.
- ↑ Gilbert, E.; Quintana, E.; Dotson, J.; Colon, K.; Pandora Team (2021-06-01). "The Pandora SmallSat Mission". American Astronomical Society meeting #238. 53. pp. 309.03. Bibcode: 2021AAS...23830903G. https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2021AAS...23830903G.
- ↑ "The Pandora SmallSat: Multiwavelength Characterization of Exoplanets and their Host Stars - Astrobiology". 17 August 2021. http://astrobiology.com/2021/08/the-pandora-smallsat-multiwavelength-characterization-of-exoplanets-and-their-host-stars.html.
- ↑ Talbert, Tricia (2021-01-06). "NASA Selects 4 Concepts for Small Missions to Study Universe's Secrets". http://www.nasa.gov/feature/nasa-selects-4-concepts-for-small-missions-to-study-universe-s-secrets.
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