NASA and ESA will study the Universe together through Euclid mission
NASA and European Space Agency (ESA) have planned to work together in ‘Dark Universe’ Mission. These space agencies will put the Euclid telescope in the space between the Earth and the Sun’s Lagrange point L2, where the space telescope will remain stationary due to the balance of the gravitational pull between the Earth and the Sun.
This telescope will be launched in 2020 and will study about two billion galaxies, i.e. nearly one-third of the sky, for six years, so that the scientists would be able to study the dark matter in the Universe and the affect of the dark energy on the Universe’s evolution over time.
NASA will contribute 16 infrared detectors to the mission along with 4 more detectors for one of Euclid’s planned science instruments. 3 teams of scientists containing 40 people from NASA will work for the Euclid Consortium.
ESA will provide a group of 1,000 members to work on the mission.
“NASA is very proud to contribute to ESA’s mission to understand one of the greatest science mysteries of our time,” John Grunsfeld, associate administrator for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate at the agency’s Headquarters in Washington, said in a statement.
“ESA’s Euclid mission is designed to probe one of the most fundamental questions in modern cosmology, and we welcome NASA’s contribution to this important endeavor, the most recent in a long history of cooperation in space science between our two agencies,” said Alvaro Giménez, ESA’s Director of Science and Robotic Exploration.
