With the expected launch of NASA’s new Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) this week, Virginia Tech astronomical science expert Nahum Arav says the all-sky survey mission is an important step forward that will enable space explorers to discover thousands of exoplanets around nearby bright stars.

Quoting Arav

“TESS targets the stars closest to Earth and due to their proximity it will be easier to do follow up observations and studies of the discovered planets,” explains Arav.

“Over the next two years, NASA’s new spacecraft will help astronomers better understand other planetary systems. The space mission is specifically designed to discover planets that can then be observed by NASA's $10 billion new flagship space-observatory: the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) that is scheduled for launch in 2020.”

About Arav

Nahum Arav is a professor of physics at Virginia Tech. His work focuses on astronomical sciences and the influence of super massive black holes on structure formation in the universe and kinetic energy sources to assess its influence on galactic and intergalactic environments. More here.

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