Launching a new telescope into space was on the schedule of the space agency of Europe to investigate distant planets. However, there was a last-minute cancelation of the liftoff. Owing to an issue with the launch device, the liftoff was been called off, as said by the ESA (European Space Agency) spokesperson. The telescope, named CHaracterizing ExOPlanet Satellite, or CHEOPS, was slated to be lifted-off onboard a Soyuz-Fregat rocket from the Kourou spaceport of Europe in French Guiana.
As said by the satellite firm in commission for the launch, Arianespace, the automated sequence of the Soyuz launcher was interrupted during the final countdown operations at 1 H 25 Min prior to the launch. It also further stated that the new liftoff date will be declared shortly. The objective of the telescope is to study already recognized individual stars hosting exoplanets, emphasizing on planet-sized in the range of Earth to Neptune. ESA said, 4,143 planets have been found around stars other than the Sun so far.
CHEOPS will measure a few of these planets precisely and try to find data regarding whether they are gaseous or rocky. Also, it will look for unique features comprising rings, moons, and oceans in addition to which planets might have inhabitable conditions. Contrasting earlier missions, like NASA’s TESS and Kepler missions, concentrating on exoplanets, ESA stated that CHEOPS wasn’t a “finding device” but a follow-up operation that would be capable of computing planet sizes and other data precisely and accurately.
Likewise, NASA astronomers have suggested to develop an enormous, folding space telescope to look for new exoplanets. HabEx, or Habitable Exoplanet Observatory would possess a 4-m wide mirror, in comparison to the 2.4 Meter of Hubble Space Telescope. This would provide it better capability to scrutinize and identify far-off Earth-like worlds and better verify whether they can host life or even human establishments in the future, as per a press release.
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