MANTIS

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MANTIS

Monitoring Activity from Nearby sTars with uv Imaging and Spectroscopy

Investigating the impact of stellar UV on exoplanet atmospheres

Mission Class:

CubeSats

Mission Status:

Future

LASP Roles:

Research, Instruments, Data, Mission Operations, Engineering, Lead Institute

Science Target:

Interstellar

Mission Focus:

Exoplanets, Planetary Atmosphere

Launch Date: Scheduled for 2026

Lead Institution: Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics

Lead Funding Agency: NASA Astrophysics

Partners: Italian National Institute for Astrophysics, Pennsylvania State University, Space Telescope Science Institute, NASA, UMD, U of A, LEI, UHH

The spacecraft will observe in the full range of ultraviolet light to explore the atmospheres of “exoplanets” beyond Earth’s solar system. MANTIS will observe the volatile physics of stars burning dozens of light-years from Earth, including as they eject huge bursts of energy in the form of flares. MANTIS will operate in conjunction with NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, helping scientists piece together the conditions that could make these worlds habitable—or not.