Nasa specialists have finalized the assembly of the Pandora spacecraft, with a launch anticipated in the fall of this year.
The Pandora mission was approved by NASA in 2021 as part of a program supporting projects utilizing small and relatively inexpensive spacecraft that can yield significant scientific results. The mission's budget, excluding launch costs, is $20 million, a modest amount by contemporary standards.
The primary objective of the mission is to study exoplanetary atmospheres. Pandora will determine their key characteristics, including the presence of haze, clouds, and water. The spacecraft will achieve this by tracking transits—when an exoplanet passes in front of its star, light passes through its atmosphere. By comparing the transit spectrum with that of the star's light, astronomers can detect signs of elements and compounds present in the exoplanet's atmosphere.
However, this process is dependent on the star itself. If it has particularly dark or bright areas (analogous to solar spots or faculae), these can cause the spectrum to change over time, complicating observational results. Therefore, Pandora will aim to separate the spectra of the star and the planet while conducting observations in both visible and infrared light.
Recently, NASA engineers completed the assembly of the Pandora spacecraft, which will be equipped with scientific instruments as well as those for control, navigation, and power supply. This marks a crucial step towards the mission's launch.
Pandora will study the spectra of exoplanets using a 45-centimeter aluminum telescope. Its near-infrared detector is a spare instrument originally built for the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). According to experts, the key difference between the two missions lies in the observation time. JWST is a flagship observatory with high demand, and unlike Pandora, it cannot continuously observe objects over extended periods.
During its main mission year, Pandora is expected to study at least 20 known exoplanets ten times, with each observation lasting a total of 24 hours. According to engineers, the data collected by the spacecraft should complement JWST's observational results and lay the groundwork for future missions seeking habitable worlds.