The New Worlds Mission is a project planning to build a large occulter in space designed to block the light of nearby stars in order to observe their orbiting planets. The observations could be taken with an existing space telescope, possibly the James Webb Space Telescope when it launches, or a dedicated visible light telescope optimally designed for the task of finding exoplanets. The project was (in 2004-2008) funded by NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts (NIAC) and headed by Dr. Webster Cash of the University of Colorado at Boulder in conjunction with Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Northrop Grumman, Southwest Research Institute and others. In 2010 the project is looking for financing from NASA and other sources in the amount of roughly US$3 billion, and if possible, the project was envisioned to start in 2011 (the project is mentioned in the NASA strategic plan of 2011 ), and the telescope could be launched in 2019 and the starshade in 2020, and the science mission should begin in 2020 and last 5 years.
Read more about New Worlds Mission: Purpose, Design, Mission Objectives, Mission Architecture, Current Status
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