The balloon mission raising the bar for exoplanet science

Exoplanet atmospheres have been a focal point of the field in recent times, with the James Webb Space Telescope examining as many as it can handle. But time spent on the world’s most powerful space telescope is precious, and it’s difficult to get a complete picture of such an atmosphere without a considerable investment of time. A multidisciplinary team of researchers has therefore developed an alternative mission that is highly specialized in capturing as much information as possible on the atmosphere of exoplanets, but also with a fraction of the budget of flagship missions like JWST. The mission, known as the EXoplanet Climate Infrared TElescope (EXCITE), has one feature that the JWST does not have: a gondola.