NASA's NExSS Initiative, or Nexus for Exoplanet System Science initiative plans to bring together top research groups and will provide a synthesized approach in the search for habitable exoplanets while also looking for signs of extraterrestrial life.
The study of extrasolar planets is a relatively new scientific field with the discovery of the first exoplanet designated 51 Pegasi b around a star like our Sun was made in 1995. Since the launch of the Kepler space telescope in March 2009, astronomers have discovered over a thousand exoplanets, with thousands of additional candidates just waiting to be confirmed.
Astronomers are developing new ways to confirm the habitability of these planets and are also searching for signs of extraterrestrial life.
"The hunt for exoplanets is not only a priority for astronomers, it's of keen interest to planetary and climate scientists as well," said Dr Jim Green, NASA's Director of Planetary Science.
The NExSS Initiative is conceived as a virtual institute acting as the central hub of experts spanning 10 different universities, three NASA centers and two research institutes all working together to better understand exoplanets and their various components, as well as how their parent stars and neighboring planets interact to potentially support life. The hope is that this new system will help scientists better understand how to search for life on exoplanets.
The geoscientists of NExSS will work to develop a systems approach by first studying our own planet, Earth; planetary scientists will study a wide variety of planets in the Solar System and their moons; heliophysicists will examine in detail how the Sun interacts with the planets in orbit; astrophysicists will provide data on the exoplanets and their host stars for the application of the systems science framework.
The coalition will help to classify the diverse assortment of exoplanets that have been and are being discovered and will work to understand the potential habitability of these worlds, and develop tools and technologies that are needed to aid the search for extraterrestrial life.
"NExSS scientists will not only apply a systems science approach to existing exoplanet data, their work will provide a foundation for interpreting observations of exoplanets from future exoplanet missions such as the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), and the Wide-field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST)," said Dr. Paul Hertz of NASA Headquarters, Washington.
The TESS is currently working toward a launch in 2017, with the JWST currently scheduled for launch in 2018. The WFIRST is still in the planning stages and is still being studied by NASA with a goal of launch in the 2020s.
