NASA astronauts Kjell Lindgren, left, Jessica Watkins, center, and Robert Hines, right, are seen in the in the One World Connected gallery looking at an interactive recreation of the International Space Station’s Cupola, Tuesday, March 28, 2023 at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington. Lindgren, Watkins, and Hines spent 170 days in space as part of Expeditions 67 and 68 aboard the International Space Station. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky),

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New NASA Project Endeavors To Enhance Perception, Understanding of Cosmic Objects

NASA will endeavor to enhance Cosmic understanding by launching an artificial star.

The Bottom Line Upfront

NASA has announced an ambitious new project under the Landolt Mission: launching an artificial star into Earth's orbit.

The Breakdown

An artificial star satellite is designed to enhance our understanding of cosmic objects by serving as a reference point for measuring the brightness of stars, and will be visible through personal telescopes from its orbital distance of 35,785 kilometers.
A stellar measurement mission aims to refine how we measure star brightness and could revolutionize our comprehension of stellar evolution, exoplanets, dark energy, and the universe's expansion rate.
The satellite uses lasers to replicate starlight.
The artificial star is expected to be visible at geostationary orbit height with consumer-level telescopes.

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Image credit, NASA HQ.