NASA-funded researchers at George Mason University are leading a project to launch a small satellite into orbit that will appear as an artificial star to telescopes on Earth. This artificial star will help study star brightness to provide more accurate estimates of size, scale, and age, leading to new insights about the expansion of the universe and the potential for life elsewhere. The Landolt NASA Space Mission aims to calibrate light sources from a distance of 22,236 miles from Earth in order to refine the measurement of stellar brightness levels for millions of stars, even those in distant galaxies. The satellite, known as a CubeSat, equipped with lasers, will provide data that ground-based telescopes cannot, allowing for a more precise analysis of stars and potential habitable planets. The $19.5 million mission represents a major milestone for George Mason University, which will partner with NASA, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and 10 other universities for the project. The mission, expected to launch by 2029, will also contribute to the search for habitable zones where life could exist beyond Earth. Understandably, finding evidence of life on other planets requires accurate measurements and data, which the Landolt mission aims to provide.
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NASA finances project to send ‘fake star’ into space within 2029
