
Copernical Team
Study: Explosive volcanic eruption produced rare mineral on Mars

Sols 3541-3543: Teamwork? Sure!

NOAA contracts with Planet to image oil spills, marine debris, and marine life

US-European satellite will make world's first global freshwater survey

Terran Orbital completes Space-to-Ground Optical Link demonstration on Pathfinder Technology Demonstrator 3

Eutelsat, OneWeb plan to merge

Preparing for the World's biggest radio telescope

Russia to quit International Space Station 'after 2024'

ESA showcases its space ambition at Farnborough airshow

ESA’s efforts to ensure European citizens reap the benefits of space have been highlighted at a global aerospace event held in the UK.
NASA wants your help designing a starshade to observe exoplanets

The field of exoplanet study has come a long way in recent decades. To date, 5,063 exoplanets have been confirmed in 3,794 systems beyond our own, with another 8,819 candidates awaiting confirmation. In the coming years, tens of thousands of more planets are expected to be found, thanks to next-generation observatories. The ultimate goal in this search is to find planets that are "Earth-like," meaning they have a good chance of supporting life. This is no easy task, as rocky planets located within their parent star's habitable zones (HZs) tend to orbit closely, making them harder to see.
To make this process easier, NASA is designing a hybrid observatory consisting of a "Starshade" that will block out a star's light so that a ground-based telescope can directly image planets orbiting it.