CAPE CANAVERAL, FLORIDA — NASA's new planet-hunting satellite will seek out Earth-like worlds over the next two years.<br /><br />Called the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), the spacecraft searches for planets which orbit a star and cause a dip in its brightness. This pattern is akin to how Earth orbits the Sun, and repeated brightness dips may indicate planet supporting life.<br /><br />Planets orbiting other stars are termed exoplanets. This covers planets of all sizes from Earth and Mars, to Jupiter. TESS will search for exoplanets outside the solar system.<br /><br />NASA says TESS will cover an area 400 times greater than observed by the Kepler satellite. Over 2 years it, it will look at 26 different sectors of space. According to NASA, TESS will observe stars up to 100 times brighter than previously covered.
