Space Interferometry Mission
The Space Interferometry Mission , also called "SIM PlanetQuest," is a
NASA instrument originally expected to be launched in December of 2011; however due to budget cuts it will now launch no sooner than between October 2014 and April 2015. Once in orbit, scientists expect SIM to be able to make very accurate
astrometric observations of distant stars. SIM will also be a powerful general astrophysical observatory.
NASA hopes the SIM's ability to very accurately measure the distances and positions of stars will help astronomers probe for
Earth-like planets in other solar systems, and possibly answer fundamental questions about the universe, such as its age and size.
Encyclopedia
The
Space Interferometry Mission , also called "SIM PlanetQuest," is a
NASA instrument originally expected to be launched in December of 2011; however due to budget cuts it will now launch no sooner than between October 2014 and April 2015. Once in orbit, scientists expect SIM to be able to make very accurate
astrometric observations of distant stars. SIM will also be a powerful general astrophysical observatory.
NASA hopes the SIM's ability to very accurately measure the distances and positions of stars will help astronomers probe for
Earth-like planets in other solar systems, and possibly answer fundamental questions about the universe, such as its age and size. Additionally, SIM will measure the masses of stars, including exotic neutron stars and stellar-size black holes, plus analyze dark matter and microlensing events. It is designed to operate between 450 and 900 nm.
SIM works through
optical interferometry, a technique pioneered by
Albert Michelson and developed specifically for use with SIM. Interferometry combines light from two or more telescopes as if they were pieces of a single, gigantic telescope mirror. Sim is composed of a 9 meter boom with 1 science
interferometer and 2 guide interferometers. The total collecting area of the three instruments is 325 cm^2.
NASA hopes that SIM's new technology will eventually lead to the development of telescopes powerful enough to take images of Earth-like
extrasolar planets orbiting distant stars and to determine whether those planets are able to sustain life — in fact, NASA has already begun developing future
missions that will build on SIM's technological legacy.
SIM will make a detailed survey of approximately 100 close target stars over 5 years, and will be able to detect extrasolar planets down to 2 Earth Masses for the nearest stars. SIM will also perform a broad survey of several thousand stars improving our knowledge of the formation, evolution, and architecture of planetary systems. This broad survey will be able to detect planets of Neptune's size and larger in orbits up to 10 AU.
SIM is being developed by the
Jet Propulsion Laboratory under contract with
Northrop Grumman in
Redondo Beach, California.
See also
External links
