Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite:
Using NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), an international team of astronomers recently detected a new exoplanet orbiting a distant star.
- It is a NASA mission to discover exoplanets around nearby bright stars.
- It was launched on April 18, 2018, aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket out of Cape Canaveral.
- TESS circles Earth in a unique high Earth orbit of 12 to 15 days, which is inclined in a way that the telescope’s sky view is largely free from obstructions by our bright planet and the Moon.
- The prime mission ended on July 4, 2020, and TESS is now on an extended mission.
- TESS is finding planets ranging from small, rocky worlds to giant planets, showcasing the diversity of planets in the galaxy.
