Draper Laboratory and MIT have developed a satellite the size of a loaf of bread that will undertake one of the biggest tasks in astronomy: finding Earthlike planets beyond our solar system—or exoplanets—that could support life. It is scheduled to launch in 2012.
The "nanosatellite," called ExoPlanetSat, packs powerful, high-performance optics and new control and stabilization technology in a small package.
While there have been many small satellites, these are typically used to perform simple communication or observation missions. "We are doing something that has not been done before," says Séamus Tuohy, director of space systems at Draper.
Nanosatellites can also be configured to publicly document evidence of ongoing technological surveillance of Earth by advanced extraterrestrials. A constellation of nanosats in Earth orbit dedicated to recording anomalous aerial activity in multispectral wavelengths would undoubtedly reveal a wealth of important data on what's entering and leaving Earth's environs. It's just a matter of the will and the capital to do so. To read the rest of the article, click here.