<p>Quoting <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/niac/2020_Phase_I_Phase_II/Direct_Multipixel_Imaging_and_Spectroscopy_of_an_Exoplanet/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/niac/2020_Phase_I_Phase_II/Direct_Multipixel_Imaging_and_Spectroscopy_of_an_Exoplanet/</a>, the proposed Solar Gravitational Lens Mission would &quot;<em>directly image a habitable Earth-like exoplanet within our stellar neighborhood</em>&quot;.</p>
<p>My question is...  what exoplanet would it be imaging? wikipedia has a whole list of exoplanets that have been found:</p>
<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lists_of_exoplanets" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lists_of_exoplanets</a></p>
<p>Is it in that list?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-12-07T16:57:59.180Z
Note that NIAC studies are often for far-future possible technologies that are not ready to be developed into a mission and need a small amount of money to mature the concepts and advance the Technology Readiness Level so they might be used for missions in the future. The awards are for a much smaller amount of money and time than is needed for a full mission concept study and so this particular one, even as a Phase 3 proposal, could still be decades away (or never) from an actual mission
astrosnapper
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-12-07T23:20:36.683Z
Also semi-obligatory for any discussion of Technology Readiness Levels: [TRLs with unicorns](https://www.granttremblay.com/blog/trls)
astrosnapper
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-12-08T13:34:11.203Z
Should be noted than even if we have a mature technology for sending a spacecraft so far (hundreds of a.u.) - it still should win against concurring missions on "cost vs benefits" basis. Is it better to resolve details of a single planet by the gravitational lens, or to characterise hundreds and thousands of unresolved planets by a set of telescopes, for the same budget?
Heopps
<exoplanet><artificial-satellite><nasa>
would the Solar Gravitational Lens Mission be looking at a specific exoplanet?
neubert
# would the Solar Gravitational Lens Mission be looking at a specific exoplanet?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2022-12-07)

Quoting <https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/niac/2020_Phase_I_Phase_II/Direct_Multipixel_Imaging_and_Spectroscopy_of_an_Exoplanet/>, the proposed Solar Gravitational Lens Mission would "*directly image a habitable Earth-like exoplanet within our stellar neighborhood*".

My question is... what exoplanet would it be imaging? wikipedia has a whole list of exoplanets that have been found:

<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lists_of_exoplanets>

Is it in that list?

**Tags:** exoplanet, artificial-satellite, nasa

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Note that NIAC studies are often for far-future possible technologies that are not ready to be developed into a mission and need a small amount of money to mature the concepts and advance the Technology Readiness Level so they might be used for missions in the future. The awards are for a much smaller amount of money and time than is needed for a full mission concept study and so this particular one, even as a Phase 3 proposal, could still be decades away (or never) from an actual mission  
> **username_1**: Also semi-obligatory for any discussion of Technology Readiness Levels: [TRLs with unicorns](https://www.granttremblay.com/blog/trls)  
> **username_2**: Should be noted than even if we have a mature technology for sending a spacecraft so far (hundreds of a.u.) - it still should win against concurring missions on "cost vs benefits" basis. Is it better to resolve details of a single planet by the gravitational lens, or to characterise hundreds and thousands of unresolved planets by a set of telescopes, for the same budget?  

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## 0 answers

