Europe supported the launch of observatories in deep space to explore “living” planets in other systems. The mission of PLATO will take on the solution of fundamental issues. Among them: the search for planets like Earth, the uniqueness of our system and others.
The plans were announced by the committee of the European Space Agency, whose meeting was held on Tuesday in Madrid. That is, the paper project will finally be able to find a material embodiment.
The idea was announced 3 years ago and then its value was estimated at 668 million dollars. The money will be spent on the creation of 26 on-board telescopes that have joined the Kepler Observatory. The latter managed to find 3400 exoplanets, among which 30 are larger than ours and are located in the habitable zone.
PLATO is going to be placed 1.5 million kilometers away where it can cover thousands of stars in its review. Telescopes track small spots in the light, hinting that the stellar rays are obscured by a planet passing in front. The launch of PLATO is scheduled for 2026. NASA and a number of terrestrial telescopes also contributed to the search for exoplanets. Detection and study of such planets while remains a mission at a distance. We do not have powerful enough equipment to send a crew to the object.
ESA also tentatively approved the LISA project, which will track the gravitational waves created by the blows of black holes. For the first time they became noticeable last year (they were predicted by Albert Einstein). This launch is expected in 2034. However, the cost of a billion euros can still tip the balance in the direction of failure.
