CAPE CANAVERAL, FLORIDA — NASA's new planet-hunting satellite will seek out Earth-like worlds over the next two years.
Called the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), the spacecraft searches for planets which orbit a star and cause a dip in its brightness. This pattern is akin to how Earth orbits the Sun, and repeated brightness dips may indicate planet supporting life.
Planets orbiting other stars are termed exoplanets. This covers planets of all sizes from Earth and Mars, to Jupiter. TESS will search for exoplanets outside the solar system.
NASA says TESS will cover an area 400 times greater than observed by the Kepler satellite. Over 2 years it, it will look at 26 different sectors of space. According to NASA, TESS will observe stars up to 100 times brighter than previously covered.
