Space Interferometry Mission
The Space Interferometry Mission (SIM), also called "PlanetQuest," is a NASA instrument expected to be launched in 2011. Once in orbit, scientists expect SIM to be able to make very accurate astrometric observations of distant stars.
NASA hopes the SIM's ability to very accurately measure the distance from the earth to other stars will help astronomers probe for Earth-like planets in other solar systems, and possibly answer fundamental questions about the universe, such as its age and size. Additionally, SIM's astrometric measurements of position, parallax, and proper motion will also significantly increase the accuracy of measurements of continental drift.
The SIM works through optical interferometry, a discipline pioneered by Albert Michelson and developed specifically for use with SIM. It functions through processes called aperture synthesis and nullifying interferometry to combine light from two or more telescopes as if they were pieces of a single, gigantic telescope mirror.
NASA hopes that SIM's new technology will eventually lead to the development of telescopes powerful enough to take images of Earth-like extrasolar planets orbiting distant stars and to determine whether those planets are able to sustain life — in fact, NASA has already begun developing a future mission building on new developments that could be spurred by the SIM technology.
SIM is being developed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory under contract with Lockheed Martin Missiles and Space in Sunnyvale, California, and Northrop Grumman in Redondo Beach, California.
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Categories: Space telescopes | NASA programs