 FINESSE would provide uniquely detailed atmospheric information on exoplanets | |
| Mission type | Space observatory |
|---|---|
| Operator | NASA |
| Mission duration | 2 years |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | 2023 (proposed[1]) |
| Launch site | Cape Canaveral Air Force Station |
| Orbital parameters | |
| Reference system | Earth-Sun L2 (heliocentric) orbit |
| Main spectrometer | |
| Diameter | 70 cm |
| Wavelengths | Infrared (0.5 - 5 μm) |
| Resolution | λ/Δλ = 80 - 300 |
Fast Infrared Exoplanet Spectroscopy Survey Explorer (FINESSE) was a NASA mission proposal for a space observatory operating in the Near-infrared spectrum for the Medium-Class Explorers program. The Principal Investigator was Mark Swain of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.[2]
FINESSE was one of three Medium-Class Explorers (MIDEX) mission concepts that received $2 million to conduct a nine-month mission concept study in August 2017.[3] The mission study was terminated prematurely following the selection by European Space Agency of an identical concept, the ARIEL exoplanet atmosphere survey mission.[4] Had it been selected for implementation, FINESSE would have launched no earlier than 2022 and lasted at least two years. The other two finalist concepts competing with FINESSE were Arcus (an X-ray space observatory) and SPHEREx (a near-infrared space observatory). In February 2019, it was announced that SPHEREx had been selected.[5]
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
JPL Overviewwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ NASA - NASA Selects Science Investigations For Concept Studies, 29 September 2011.
- ^ "NASA Selects Proposals to Study Galaxies, Stars, Planets". NASA. 9 August 2017.
- ^ Hertz, Paul (22 October 2018). "NASA Astrophysics Update" (PDF). NASA. Retrieved 2019-02-17.
- ^ "NASA Selects New Mission to Explore Origins of Universe" (Press release). NASA. 13 February 2019. Retrieved 13 February 2019.