Goals for the Near

Future

@PlanetQuest

Catch up on all of the latest information with NASA's exoplanet division Twitter feed.

In Search of a New Home

NASA's Exoplanet division or "Planet Quest" is dedicated to searching for potentially habitable planets outside of our solar system.

Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite

The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite or "TESS" was launched in April of 2018 with the intent of identifying possible candidates for further exploration.

Artist's interpretation TESS. Courtesy of nasa.gov.

Artist's interpretation of a "transit."

First photograph sent back to Earth from TESS. It displays the Centaurus constellation. Image courtesy of nasa.gov.

How Does NASA identify exoplanets?

Astronomers use a technique called transit photometry to locate planets outside of the solar system. When a planet moves in between a star and the earth it is called a transit. When a transit occurs the light that hits the earth from the star is dimmed. Once astronomers detect the dimming then they know that they have found an exoplanet. There are difficulties associated with this method because exoplanets rarely pass between the earth and the host star.

Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway

The image above is an artist rendition of the Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway working in conjunction with the Deep Space Transit depicted in the bottom left hand corner. The Deep Space transit vehicle is currently estimated to carry a payload of 100 to 200 tons.

Overview

The Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway is a proposed space station that would serve as a docking station for missions to mars and future explorations beyond the solar system.

In November of 2017, NASA announced that it would commission five different studies to look into the most affordable ways to build the space station.

As part of the 2019 fiscal budget proposal, NASA included framework for the construction of The Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway in the 2020's.

Artists rendition of the proposed Space Launch System

Space Launch System

In order to transport the Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway and the Deep Space Transport vehicle NASA needs to develop a rocket capable of launching it into outer space.

Here are six facts you need to know about the Space Launch System.

Announced in 2011. Envisioned to be the most powerful rocket ever built.
Capable of carrying a payload of 130 metric tons.
Designed to transport astronauts past Low Earth orbit and on a circumlunar trajectory.
The Space launch system is intended to bring the Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway to lunar orbit in the 2020’s.
The development of this system has cost a total of $18 million dollars through 2017. Space advocacy groups such as the Space Access Society and the Space Frontier Foundation have called for the cancellation of the program because it takes funds and resources away from other valuable Space programs.
The maiden flight of the Space Launch System is scheduled for no earlier than December 2019.

RETURN TO HOMEPAGE

Sources

Grush, Loren. “NASA's Future Deep Space Rocket Gets Critical Endorsement from Commercial Space Group.” The Verge, The Verge, 8 Feb. 2017, www.theverge.com/2017/2/8/14543560/nasa-space-launch-system-csf-endorsement-commercial-spaceflight-federation.

Harbaugh, Jennifer. “Launching Science and Technology.” NASA, NASA, 11 Jan. 2016, www.nasa.gov/launching-science-and-technology.html.

Warner, Cheryl. “NASA's Lunar Outpost Will Extend Human Presence in Deep Space.” NASA, NASA, 13 Feb. 2018, www.nasa.gov/feature/nasa-s-lunar-outpost-will-extend-human-presence-in-deep-space.

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