Eddington mission
Encyclopedia
The Eddington mission was a European Space Agency
(ESA) project that planned to search for Earth-like planets. It was named for Arthur Eddington, a noted physicist who translated Einstein's work. It was originally planned for operation in 2008, but was delayed. The ESA Website now records its status as cancelled.
Using a single spacecraft with four telescopes in Earth orbit, Eddington was to examine different regions of the sky for intervals of about two months each. Observing more than 200,000 stars, it would have measured changes in light of one part of one million, and thus have allowed astronomers to learn more about what stars are like inside.
The mission was then planned to search for Earth-like planets orbiting other stars, pointing continuously at one region of the sky for three years. It would measure light from more than 100,000 stars and detect the tiny decrease in light as a planet passes in front of a star. This so-called transit method will also be employed by NASA
's Kepler.
Eddington was advocated as the culmination of an international attempt to perform asteroseismology from space. Two small precursor space missions are currently under way. The French COROT
mission is currently searching for other planets. Microvariability and Oscillations of STars (MOST) is a Canadian mission using a 15 cm telescope that was launched in 2003.
. It was to have travelled beyond the Moon
to the Lagrangian point
. It would have stayed there for the planned 5-year mission length. The launch mass was planned at 1640 kg.
A proposed new ESA mission, PLATO
, is expected to perform a mission similar to the one Eddington was to pursue.
European Space Agency
The European Space Agency , established in 1975, is an intergovernmental organisation dedicated to the exploration of space, currently with 18 member states...
(ESA) project that planned to search for Earth-like planets. It was named for Arthur Eddington, a noted physicist who translated Einstein's work. It was originally planned for operation in 2008, but was delayed. The ESA Website now records its status as cancelled.
Using a single spacecraft with four telescopes in Earth orbit, Eddington was to examine different regions of the sky for intervals of about two months each. Observing more than 200,000 stars, it would have measured changes in light of one part of one million, and thus have allowed astronomers to learn more about what stars are like inside.
The mission was then planned to search for Earth-like planets orbiting other stars, pointing continuously at one region of the sky for three years. It would measure light from more than 100,000 stars and detect the tiny decrease in light as a planet passes in front of a star. This so-called transit method will also be employed by NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
's Kepler.
Eddington was advocated as the culmination of an international attempt to perform asteroseismology from space. Two small precursor space missions are currently under way. The French COROT
Corot
Corot may refer to:* Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, French landscape painter * COROT, a space mission with the dual aims of finding extrasolar planets and performing asteroseismology* COROT-7, a dwarf star in the Monoceros constellation...
mission is currently searching for other planets. Microvariability and Oscillations of STars (MOST) is a Canadian mission using a 15 cm telescope that was launched in 2003.
Launch
The launch vehicle was to have been a Soyuz-Fregat rocket from the Baikonur CosmodromeBaikonur Cosmodrome
The Baikonur Cosmodrome , also called Tyuratam, is the world's first and largest operational space launch facility. It is located in the desert steppe of Kazakhstan, about east of the Aral Sea, north of the Syr Darya river, near Tyuratam railway station, at 90 meters above sea level...
. It was to have travelled beyond the Moon
Moon
The Moon is Earth's only known natural satellite,There are a number of near-Earth asteroids including 3753 Cruithne that are co-orbital with Earth: their orbits bring them close to Earth for periods of time but then alter in the long term . These are quasi-satellites and not true moons. For more...
to the Lagrangian point
Lagrangian point
The Lagrangian points are the five positions in an orbital configuration where a small object affected only by gravity can theoretically be stationary relative to two larger objects...
. It would have stayed there for the planned 5-year mission length. The launch mass was planned at 1640 kg.
Expected performance
Eddington was to be a European counterpart to Kepler, expecting to detect thousands of planets of any size and a few tens of terrestrial planets that are potentially habitable. Budget overruns with other ESA missions led to the cancellation of the mission in November 2003, despite strong protests from the scientific community.A proposed new ESA mission, PLATO
PLATO (spacecraft)
PLAnetary Transits and Oscillations of stars is a European Space Agency-proposed space observatory that will use a group of photometers to discover and characterize extrasolar planets of all sizes and kinds around cool dwarf and subgiant stars...
, is expected to perform a mission similar to the one Eddington was to pursue.