Last night, the Transit Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) was successfully launched into orbit to detect and observe the closest exoplanets and those circling around the brightest stars. The device belongs to NASA, was built by Orbital ATK, and the project was co-financed by NASA, MIT and Google.
The agency hopes that with its help it will be possible to discover a planet that is conducive to the flowering of the life we know in close proximity to Earth. TESS brought space rocket Falcon 9 from SpaceX to space. The company announced that the mission was carried out perfectly. Falcon 9 Block 4 perfectly landed on the OCISLY barge floating in the waters of the Atlantic Ocean.
During the mission, SpaceX also attempted to recover the cargo shields that parachuted the soft landing in the ocean. Elon Musk wrote on Twitter that his team wants to try to regain the second degree of the rocket. Tests are to take place this year.
The TESS telescope will be in its destination only in two months. And this is due to the fact that its orbit will be closely related to the Moon. Thanks to this, the device will be more stable in space and perform its work better.
Four cameras with a resolution of 16.4 MPix each are installed on its board. The instruments will allow him to photograph as much as 85 percent of the cosmos visible from the Earth. NASA hopes to discover hundreds, if not thousands, of Earth-like planets that will become targets for research and future missions.