Engineering:Pandora Mission
.jpg){kind=spacer} Artist's concept of Pandora observing an exoplanet | |
| Mission type | Astrophysics |
|---|---|
| Operator | NASA |
| Website | https://smallsat.wff.nasa.gov/missions/pandora.php |
| Mission duration | 12 months (planned) |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Manufacturer | Blue Canyon Technologies, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory |
| Launch mass | 325 kg (717 lb) |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | Fall 2025 |
| Rocket | Falcon 9 Block 5 |
| Contractor | SpaceX |
| Orbital parameters | |
| Reference system | Geocentric orbit |
| Regime | Sun-synchronous, low Earth orbit |
| Main telescope | |
| Diameter | 45 cm (18 in) |
| Wavelengths | Near-infrared |
| Instruments | |
| Cassegrain telescope | |
Pandora is a small satellite, 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 present in their atmospheres, as well as 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]
Construction and launch
The spacecraft bus completed construction in January 2025. The spacecraft is due to launch in September 2025 on a SpaceX Falcon 9,[9] possibly on a Transporter rideshare mission.[10][11][12]
Notes and 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). 24 March 2021. https://news.arizona.edu/story/probing-alien-worlds-nasas-pandora-mission-builds-uarizona-research.
- ↑ Tomaswick, Andy (26 January 2021). "NASA has Chosen 4 new Pioneer Missions: Aspera, Pandora, StarBurst, and PEUO" (in en). 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 (1 June 2021). "The Pandora SmallSat Mission". American Astronomical Society meeting #238. 53. p. 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 (6 January 2021). "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.
- ↑ @SpaceX. "Falcon 9 to launch the Pandora small satellite to study 20 exoplanets and their host stars". https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1889075606463328357. Missing or empty |date= (help)
- ↑ NASA's Pandora mission one step closer to probing alien atmospheres
- ↑ Doyle, Tiernan. "NASA Awards Launch Service Task Order for Pandora Mission" (in en). NASA. https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-awards-launch-service-task-order-for-pandora-mission/.
- ↑ Foust, Jeff (11 February 2025). "NASA selects SpaceX to launch astrophysics smallsat mission" (in en). https://spacenews.com/nasa-selects-spacex-to-launch-astrophysics-smallsat-mission/.
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