The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) has reportedly initiated a project called ‘Earth 2.0 ET’ that aims to find a planet like Earth orbiting a star comparable to the Sun. According to the Chinese white paper, the mission’s objective is to use 30 cm telescopes to measure the orbital distributions and occurrence rates of Earth-sized planets.
Six transit telescopes would each have a ‘field of vision of 500 square degrees,’ the statement continues. Tens of thousands of transiting planets, ‘including the elusive Earth twins circling solar-type stars,’ are planned to be monitored by the expedition, according to the statement.
The seventh telescope will reportedly monitor an area ‘4 square degrees toward the galactic bulge’. The powerful telescopes will measure ‘hundreds of long-period and free-floating planets’.
The mission statement claimed that the ‘transit and the microlensing telescopes will revolutionise our understandings of terrestrial planets across a large swath of orbital distances and free space.’
Nature had earlier expanded on China’s plan reporting that 5,000 exoplanets have been discovered in the Milky Way by NASA’s Kepler telescope. However, China would be using much more powerful telescopes. The mission is set to be launched in 2026.
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