The University of Arizona will contribute to a NASA space mission to study the atmospheres of planets outside of our solar system.
NASA says data from the Pandora satellite will help create a foundation to interpret measurements captured by the James Webb Space Telescope. The mission's Exoplanets Science Working Group will be led by the university.
“We basically will be controlling the spacecraft operations from the University of Arizona, from our Tucson campus, sending commands to the spacecraft and then also managing the data that is returned by the spacecraft. So that's very exciting," said Daniel Apai, a UA professor of astronomy and planetary sciences.
Apai also says that the project will help in operating other missions in the future.
“So as the planet goes across the sun, we will be capturing the image and trying to understand the atmosphere and as much else as we can glean from the observations we're making," said Karl Harshman, who leads the institute’s Mission Operations Team.
The Pandora space mission is expected to launch in fall 2025.
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