Exoplanet Missions: Searching for Another Earth

  1. Exoplanet missions aim to find planets orbiting stars beyond our solar system.
  2. The first confirmed exoplanets were discovered in the 1990s.
  3. NASA’s Kepler Space Telescope found over 2,600 exoplanets by tracking tiny dips in starlight.
  4. The TESS mission continues Kepler’s work, scanning nearly the entire sky.
  5. The James Webb Space Telescope studies exoplanet atmospheres in detail.
  6. Some missions target planets in the habitable zone, where liquid water could exist.
  7. The European Space Agency’s CHEOPS and PLATO are advancing the search for Earth-like worlds.
  8. Exoplanet studies help scientists understand how planetary systems form and evolve.
  9. By analyzing starlight through atmospheres, missions search for gases like oxygen and methane.
  10. The ultimate goal: finding a true Earth 2.0 that could support life.