ExoPlanetSat nanosatellite to start look for alien worlds next year

SETI’s look for intelligent life in outer space can be on ice in the meanwhile, however the look for alien planets that might possibly support lifetime of some sort is now being bolstered by loads of new efforts . Among the latest is the so-called ExoPlanetSat nanosatellite developed by MIT and Draper Laboratory, which recently got the go-ahead from NASA’s Cubesat Launch Initiative and is now set to affix a ride into space sometime in 2012. While not quite as “nano” because the SIM card-sized satellites that launched with the Shuttle Endeavor , the smaller-than-a-breadbox ExoPlanetSat remains pretty tiny by satellite standards, yet it packs the entire necessary optics and technology required for what’s often called transit observation — that’s, monitoring a celeb for decreases in brightness, that may indicate a planet passing in front of it. What’s more, while the launch of a single satellite is plenty to get curious about, the researchers hope that it cleared the path for an entire fleet of comparable nanosatellites that can greatly accelerate the hunt for planets.

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This post is tagged: alien planets, draper laboratory, hitch a ride, intelligent life in outer space, life in outer space, observation, shuttle endeavor