By Matt Davenport, Originally published by VP for Communications-Michigan News
The first space mission led by the University of Michigan Department of Astronomy is scheduled to launch in 2029 with the support of a NASA grant worth $10 million.
The mission is called STARI—STarlight Acquisition and Reflection toward Interferometry—and will showcase the viability of a new technique for studying exoplanets, or planets outside of our solar system.
The technique could be used in the future to better understand whether any of the exoplanets we know about are capable of supporting life as we know it.