Idea of ​​launching micro satellites to find aliens

Scientists say using microsatellites is more efficient and economical in searching for planets with life beyond Earth.

An imaginary image of a cube satellite operating in space. Photo: NASA

NASA scientists are proposing to search for new worlds using satellites the size of a hand, according to Live Science.

"This would be much more cost-effective than launching a large satellite, because it would collect more data in less time and would be cheaper," said Ameer Blake, a senior at Howard University in Washington.

Blake and his adviser, NASA astronomer Aki Roberge, are investigating the possibility of using a device called a cubesat to search for new planets around the star Beta Pictoris. At the January meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Florida, scientists suggested that there might be a habitable planet around the star, called Beta Pictoris b.

Small but talented

In 2008, using NASA's Hubble telescope, scientists discovered a giant planet with a radius 1.5 times larger than Jupiter, orbiting the star Beta Pictoris.

The distance from this planet to its host star is nine times the distance from Earth to the Sun, equivalent to the orbit of Saturn in the Solar System. Beta Pictoris b is the closest exoplanet (planet outside the solar system) that can be imaged.

Hubble is particularly well suited to observing giant planets, several times larger than Jupiter, but it has difficulty with small planets or planets that are too close to their parent stars.

Blake and Roberge are thinking about launching a cube satellite into space to search for new worlds. The researchers have found a ring that extends more than 1,400 times the distance from Earth to the Sun on either side of the star Beta Pictoris, and our planet’s orbit aligns with the ring’s orbit. This would allow the cube satellite to search for other planets in the orbit of Beta Pictoris b using the transit method.

Unlike the direct imaging method (which captures light reflected from the planet and then creates an image of the planet), the transit method that the Kepler telescope is using can search even in the shadow of the planet when it is obscured.

Based on preliminary studies, Blake suggested that a cubic satellite could detect gas planets in short orbits.

"We could definitely find hot Jupiters," Blake said. Jupiter, the largest planet in the solar system, is considered a cold planet because of its orbit far from the Sun. Blake mentioned the possibility of finding planets many times larger than Jupiter, and orbiting closer than Mercury.

Detect and collect

Years ago, planet-hunting scientist Sara Seager of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology proposed using a fleet of tiny satellites to search for planets beyond our solar system.

Blake said the idea inspired him and his advisor to consider using a satellite instrument to focus on a single star.

“This is simply focusing on one planet and finding all the information you can,” Blake said.

Once this method proves effective, other satellites will be launched to search for other planets or confirm preliminary observations that have already been made, such as those obtained by the Kepler telescope.

The first cube satellites were launched in 1999 to serve research and technology testing at universities. They have a standard cube shape with each side measuring 10 cm.

A tiny cube satellite the size of a hand will save time and money in searching for new planets. Photo: NASA

The two satellites are scheduled to launch in March to assist NASA’s Mars InSight spacecraft in its approach to and landing on the surface of Mars. Scientists are still discussing the possibility of dropping them on Enceladus (Saturn’s moon) and Europa (Jupiter’s moon).

The biggest challenge for these microsatellites is timing. To qualify as a planet, scientists require at least three transits—three times the object is between its sun and the Earth in its observable position. This happens every two to six months. Blake’s research predicts the satellite will stay in orbit for a maximum of a year and a half, but it could be as short as half a year.

Blake and Roberge have done preliminary studies showing that using a cubic satellite to search for planets around the star Beta Pictoris is a feasible plan.

Their next step is to work with engineers and designers to determine what equipment is needed to build such a satellite. From there, they can estimate the cost, which is of course much lower than the $550 million Kepler space telescope.

According to VNE