System design of a mission to detect Earth‐sized planets in the inner orbits of solar‐like stars

Abstract

A point design for a mission to detect Earth‐sized planets in the inner orbits of solar‐like stars is described. The observing technique is based upon continuously and simultaneously monitoring 5000 solar‐like stars for brightness changes that would be caused by planets transiting their star. Detection of periodic transits of the same amplitude and duration provides for a robust method of discovery. The instrument would consist of a 1‐m Schmidt telescope with an array of charge‐coupled devices (CCDs) filling the 12° field of view. The instrument would be placed in a halo orbit about the L2 Lagrange point, where its viewing would not be obscured at any time by the Sun, Earth, or Moon.