Three NASA satellites used to study exoplanets and other topics took off on the 11th from the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, USA, aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The live broadcast showed that the "Falcon 9" rocket ignited and took off at 8:45 US Eastern Time on the 11th (21:45 Beijing time on the 11th). Then the satellite separated from the rocket and the rocket booster successfully returned to the ground.
Pandora, NASA's spacecraft used to study the atmospheres of exoplanets, and two other CubeSats continue to fly on their scheduled orbits.
NASA researcher Elisa Quintana said that the goal of "Pandora" is to use visible and near-infrared light to analyze the atmospheric signals of planets and stars. This will allow astronomers to understand whether the detected elements and compounds come from stars or planets, which can help search for signs of life in the universe.
The cubesats launched that day were named BlackCAT and SPARCS, respectively used to study phenomena such as gamma ray bursts in the universe and related activities of low-mass stars.
