NASA Tess spacecraft to prowl for planets as galactic scout
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Look up at the sky tonight. Every star you see — plus hundreds of thousands, even millions more — will come under the intense stare of NASA’s newest planet hunter.
Set to lift off early next week, the Tess spacecraft will prowl for planets around the closest, brightest stars. These newfound worlds eventually will become prime targets for future telescopes looking to tease out any signs of life.
It will be the most extensive survey of its kind from orbit, with Tess, a galactic scout, combing the neighbourhood as never before.
“We’re going to look at every single one of those stars,” said the mission’s chief scientist George Ricker of Massachusetts Institute of Technology.