NASA's "Starshade" Spacecraft Prototype Could Help Find Earth-Like Worlds

A prototype spacecraft known as the "starshade" may one day help scientists acquire images of Earth-like rocky planets around nearby stars, according to NASA.

The concept spacecraft looks like a giant sunflower, and designers intend for the starshade's flower-like hood to act as a light-blocking shield that will enable cameras to take clear images of planets.

The starshade will not necessarily take images of planets itself, but will work in conjunction with a space telescope, blocking star light so the telescope can get an unobstructed view of a planet.

As the quest for finding Earth-like planets continues, an instrument like the starshade will make the challenge less difficult. One of the main reasons finding an Earth-like world is hard is because the planets are rendered invisible to our telescopes because of the intense light produced by their stars.

The basic principle behind the starshade is as simple as putting your hand up to block the Sun while taking picture of somebody.

The starshade's flower-like shape, with pointed petals, will help control light and reduce glare, according to project leader Jeremy Kasdin, an astronomer at Princeton University.

"The shape of the petals, when seen from far away, creates a softer edge that causes less bending of light waves," said Stuart Shaklan, lead engineer on the starshade project, which is being developed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. "Less light bending means that the starshade shadow is very dark, so the telescope can take images of the planets without being overwhelmed by starlight ."

The designers say that the starshade could be launched at the same time as a telescope, then separate from it once in space.

A video and more information about the starshade project are available at NASA's PlanetQuest page.