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University of Arizona will help send commands, interpret data for NASA's Pandora satellite

Near and mid-infrared view of spiral galaxy NGC 2090 from the James Web
ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, A. Leroy
/
ESA/Webb
Near and mid-infrared view of spiral galaxy NGC 2090 from the James Webb Space telescope.

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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Ignacio Ventura is a reporter for KJZZ. He graduated from the University of Southern California with a bachelor’s degree in creative writing and a minor in news media and society.