The search for extra-solar planetary systems has begun with the selection by NASA of the Full Sky Astrometric Mapping Explorer (FAME) and the Swift Gamma Ray Burst Explorer as new missions in the space agency's Medium-class Explorer (MIDEX) programme.
FAME, to be launched in 2004, will obtain precise position and brightness measurements of 40 million stars to allow astronomers to determine their distance from earth. They will also be able to detect large planets and planetary systems around stars within 1,000 light years of the earth.
The Swift Gamma Ray Burst Explorer, set for launch in 2003, will be able to point its gamma ray, X-ray and ultraviolet-optical telescope to a burst within minutes of its detection.
The first two MIDEX missions are the Magnetopause-to-Auroral Global Exploration and Microwave Anistropy Probe, both to be launched next year.
Source: Flight International