arstechnica.com
Launched in December 2024 aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9, NASA’s Pandora mission aims to support the $10 billion James Webb Space Telescope. Designed to study exoplanet atmospheres, Pandora analyzes starlight filtering through planetary air to identify molecules like water vapor. With a budget under $20 million—500 times less than Webb’s—Pandora will spend one year studying at least 20 known exoplanets. Its primary goal is to distinguish atmospheric chemical signals from “stellar noise” (sunspots on stars), ensuring Webb’s data is verified. This helps astronomers definitively determine if distant worlds might harbor life.
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