Washington, April 12: NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, or Tess aimed at detecting planets outside our solar system, is set to launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Florida on April 16.
The mission is scheduled to launch no earlier around 4.02 a.m. on April 17 (India time) from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, NASA said on Wednesday.
Tess is NASA's next step in the search for exoplanets, including those that could support life.
Once in orbit, Tess will spend about two years surveying 200,000 of the brightest stars near the Sun to search for planets outside our solar system.
Tess will find the most promising exoplanets orbiting relatively nearby stars, giving future researchers a rich set of new targets for more comprehensive follow-up studies, including the potential to assess their capacity to harbour life.
With the help of a gravitational assist from the Moon, the spacecraft will settle into a 13.7-day orbit around Earth, NASA said in an earlier statement.
Sixty days after the launch and following tests of its instruments, the satellite will begin its initial two-year mission. Four wide-field cameras will give Tess a field-of-view that covers 85 per cent of our entire sky.
Within this vast visual perspective, the sky has been divided into 26 sectors that Tess will observe one by one.
The first year of observations will map the 13 sectors encompassing the southern sky, and the second year will map the 13 sectors of the northern sky.
The spacecraft will be looking for a phenomenon known as a transit, where a planet passes in front of its star, causing a periodic and regular dip in the star's brightness.
NASA's Kepler spacecraft used the same method to spot more than 2,600 confirmed exoplanets, most of them orbiting faint stars 300 to 3,000 light-years away
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New Delhi (PTI): The Congress on Friday said it will "very soon" challenge in the Supreme Court the constitutionality of the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2025 that has been passed in Parliament.
The opposition party also said it will continue to resist all "assaults" of the Modi government on the principles, provisions, and practices that are contained in the Constitution.
Parliament early Friday approved the Bill after the Rajya Sabha gave its nod to the contentious legislation following an over 13-hour debate.
In a post in Hindi on X, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said, "The atmosphere in the country regarding the Waqf Board Amendment Bill is such that it feels like this bill has been brought to harass minorities. Late at night in the Lok Sabha, when this bill was passed, it received 288 votes in favour and 232 votes against. Why did this happen? This means there are many flaws in the bill."
From this, one can guess that despite opposition from various parties, this bill was brought arbitrarily, he said.
"This 'might is right' -- won’t be good for anyone!" Kharge said.
In a post on X, AICC general secretary in-charge organisation Jairam Ramesh said, "The INC will very soon be challenging in the Supreme Court the constitutionality of the Wakf (Amendment) Bill."
"We are confident and will continue to resist all assaults of the Modi Govt on the principles, provisions, and practices that are contained in the Constitution of India," he said.
The discussion on the Waqf Bill in the Rajya Sabha witnessed staunch objections from opposition parties, which termed the Bill "anti-Muslim" and "unconstitutional" with the government responding that the "historic reform" would benefit the minority community.
The Bill was passed in the Rajya Sabha with 128 members voting in favour and 95 opposing it. It was passed in the Lok Sabha early Thursday, with 288 members supporting it and 232 against it.
Ramesh also said that the INC's challenge of the CAA, 2019 is being heard in the Supreme Court.
The INC's challenge of the 2019 amendments to the RTI Act, 2005 is being heard in the Supreme Court, he noted.
"The INC's challenge to the validity of the amendments to the Conduct of Election Rules (2024) is being heard in the Supreme Court.
"The INC's intervention to uphold the letter and spirit of the Places of Worship Act, 1991 is being heard in the Supreme Court," the Congress leader added.
The Waqf Bill was passed in the Rajya Sabha with 128 members voting in favour and 95 opposing it. It was passed in the Lok Sabha early Thursday, with 288 members supporting it and 232 against it.
Parliament also approved the Mussalman Wakf (Repeal) Bill, 2025, with the Rajya Sabha giving its nod. The Lok Sabha had already given its assent to the Bill.
