NASA’s Pandora Telescope to Scan 20 Exoplanets for Water on SpaceX

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The Pandora telescope mission, NASA selected SpaceX to launch and which helps for the elaborate studies about the atmosphere.

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The charge, set to launch as soon as September, will examine at least 20 known exoplanets and their host stars to better understand their atmospheres.

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The core structure that houses instruments and manages essential functions like power, navigation, and communication with Earth.

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The telescope will observe each exoplanet 10 times, with each observation lasting 24 hours and including a transit period.

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Ben Hord, a NASA Postdoctoral Program Fellow at Goddard explains, We see the presence of water as a critical aspect of habitability because water is essential to life as we know it.

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Launch services will be handled under NASA's Venture-Class Acquisition of Dedicated and Rideshare (VADR) contract.

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Pandora represents a common collaboration between NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

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The program is designed to support lower, cost-effective operations while accepting a higher level of risk compared to traditional large-scale systems.

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The successful launch and operation of Pandora could significantly advance our understanding of distant worlds.

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