Overview
- Mission controllers reported full signal acquisition and nominal initial operations following the Jan. 11 launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base.
- Pandora rode a SpaceX Falcon 9 rideshare that also deployed the SPARCS and BlackCAT CubeSats.
- The spacecraft is operating in a Sun-synchronous terminator orbit confirmed after on-orbit deployment.
- The one-year plan targets at least 20 systems with ten 24-hour stares per target to separate stellar variability from planetary atmospheric signatures.
- Key partners include NASA Goddard (lead and infrared sensor), Lawrence Livermore and Corning (telescope and engineering), Blue Canyon (bus), NASA Ames (data processing), and the University of Arizona (operations).