Human WorldSpace

Watch launch of TESS planet-hunting mission April 16

Image via NASA.

NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) is set to launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on Monday evening (April 16, 2018.) Once in orbit, TESS will spend about two years surveying 200,000 of the brightest stars near the sun to search for planets outside our solar system.

To watch the launch, tune in to NASA TV. Lift-off is planned for no earlier than 6:32 p.m. EDT (10:32 UTC; translate to your time). Prelaunch mission coverage will begin on Sunday, April 15, with three live briefings. Watch here.

According to a NASA statement:

TESS is NASA’s next step in the search for planets outside of our solar system, known as exoplanets, including those that could support life. The mission is expected to catalog thousands of planet candidates and vastly increase the current number of known exoplanets. TESS will find the most promising exoplanets orbiting relatively nearby stars, giving future researchers a rich set of new targets for more comprehensive follow-up studies, including the potential to assess their capacity to harbor life.

Read more: Goodbye Kepler, hello TESS: Passing the baton in exoplanet search

Bottom line: The TESS planet-hunting mission will launch on April 16, 2018.

Posted 
April 15, 2018
 in 
Human World

Like what you read?
Subscribe and receive daily news delivered to your inbox.

Your email address will only be used for EarthSky content. Privacy Policy
Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.

More from 

Eleanor Imster

View All