The world’s first space telescope dedicated to studying the atmospheres of exoplanets is set to launch in 2028, after the European Space Agency (ESA) selected the mission for development on 20 March.
The Atmospheric Remote-sensing Infrared Exoplanet Large-survey (ARIEL) — to be built with a budget of €450 million (US$552 million) — will chart more than 1,000 known planetary systems outside our own. Its mission is to understand the links between a planet’s chemistry and its environment, says Giovanna Tinetti, a planetary scientist at University College London and principal investigator for the mission. So far, exoplanet probes have mainly focused on finding new planets and measuring their sizes, masses and orbits. “ARIEL can really give us a full picture of what exoplanets are made of, how they form and how they evolve,” says Tinetti.
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