NASA's new mission could be a real breakthrough in the search for alien life. This is a new spacecraft, the concept of which was developed by scientists from the CU Boulder Corporation.
The mission is called the Extreme Ultraviolet Characterization of Stars for Determining the Physics and Evolution of the Atmosphere (ESCAPE). The mission is headed by astrophysicist Kevin France, who sincerely believes that his creation will allow reaching a completely new level of search for alien life:
“Searching for life on exoplanets is a priority for NASA and the entire astronomical community,” said Frans, assistant professor at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) and the Division of Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences (APS). “We believe that the primary factor for the presence of life on other planets is the atmosphere.”
This month, the space agency gave him and his colleagues an important clearance to begin hunting for habitat: ESCAPE will be one of two candidates to be the next satellite launched as part of NASA's ambitious space exploration program.
The proposed mission, combined by LASP, JILA and the Center for Astrophysics and Space Astronomy (CASA) in CU Boulder, will not directly search for exoplanet atmospheres. Instead, ESCAPE will look closely at distant stars.
Scientists note that some stars are probably not suitable for habitable planets. In particular, stars that emit a lot of high-energy radiation (in this case, ultraviolet light) can rob planets of their atmospheres.
At the heart of the ESCAPE satellite is a new type of telescope design that could measure weak extreme ultraviolet radiation from distant stars, data that astronomers have been unable to obtain until now.
