The Pandora SmallSat: post-launch operations and mission update

@misc{foote2026pandora,
  title = {{The Pandora SmallSat: post-launch operations and mission update}},
  author = {Trevor O. Foote and Elisa V. Quintana and Jessie L. Dotson and Knicole D. Colón and Thomas Barclay and Pete Supsinskas and Jordan Karburn and Dániel Apai and Christina Hedges and Benjamin V. Rackham and Jason F. Rowe and David Ciardi and Emily A. Gilbert and Natalie H. Allen and Jessie Christiansen and Néstor Espinoza and Nguyen Fuda and Aylin Garcia Soto and Thomas P. Greene and Kelsey Hoffman and Rae Holcomb and Benjamin J. Hord and Aishwarya R. Iyer and Aurora Y. Kesseli and Veselin B. Kostov and Nikole K. Lewis and Sarah E. Logsdon and Andrew W. Mann and Megan Mansfield and James Mason and Peter McGill and Julie Moquin and Brett M. Morris and Gregory Mosby and Susan E. Mullally and Elisabeth R. Newton and Joe P. Renaud and Yoav Rotman and Suman Saha and Joshua E. Schlieder and Luis Welbanks and Lindsey S. Wiser and Allison Youngblood and Robert T. Zellem},
  howpublished = {arXiv},
  year = {2026},
  month = oct,
  doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2610.30372},
  eprint = {2610.30372},
  archivePrefix = {arXiv},
  url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.30372},
}

TY  - UNPB
TI  - The Pandora SmallSat: post-launch operations and mission update
AU  - Trevor O. Foote
AU  - Elisa V. Quintana
AU  - Jessie L. Dotson
AU  - Knicole D. Colón
AU  - Thomas Barclay
AU  - Pete Supsinskas
AU  - Jordan Karburn
AU  - Dániel Apai
AU  - Christina Hedges
AU  - Benjamin V. Rackham
AU  - Jason F. Rowe
AU  - David Ciardi
AU  - Emily A. Gilbert
AU  - Natalie H. Allen
AU  - Jessie Christiansen
AU  - Néstor Espinoza
AU  - Nguyen Fuda
AU  - Aylin Garcia Soto
AU  - Thomas P. Greene
AU  - Kelsey Hoffman
AU  - Rae Holcomb
AU  - Benjamin J. Hord
AU  - Aishwarya R. Iyer
AU  - Aurora Y. Kesseli
AU  - Veselin B. Kostov
AU  - Nikole K. Lewis
AU  - Sarah E. Logsdon
AU  - Andrew W. Mann
AU  - Megan Mansfield
AU  - James Mason
AU  - Peter McGill
AU  - Julie Moquin
AU  - Brett M. Morris
AU  - Gregory Mosby
AU  - Susan E. Mullally
AU  - Elisabeth R. Newton
AU  - Joe P. Renaud
AU  - Yoav Rotman
AU  - Suman Saha
AU  - Joshua E. Schlieder
AU  - Luis Welbanks
AU  - Lindsey S. Wiser
AU  - Allison Youngblood
AU  - Robert T. Zellem
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/21
PB  - arXiv
DO  - 10.48550/arxiv.2610.30372
UR  - https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.30372
AB  - The Pandora SmallSat is a NASA flight project designed to study the atmospheres of exoplanets. Transmission spectroscopy of transiting exoplanets provides our best opportunity to identify the makeup of planetary atmospheres in the coming decade, and is a key science driver for HST and JWST. Stellar photospheric inhomogeneity due to star spots, however, has been shown to contaminate the observed spectra in these high-precision measurements. Pandora will address the problem of stellar contamination by collecting long-duration photometric observations sampled over a stellar rotation period with a visible-light channel and simultaneous spectra with a near-IR channel. These simultaneous multiwavelength observations will constrain star spot covering fractions of exoplanet host stars, enabling star and planet signals to be disentangled in transmission spectra to then reliably determine exoplanet atmosphere compositions. Pandora will observe exoplanets with sizes ranging from Earth-size to Jupiter-size and host stars spanning mid-K to late-M spectral types. Pandora was selected in early 2021 as part of NASA's inaugural Astrophysics Pioneers Program. Herein, we present an overview of the mission, including the science objectives, operations, the observatory, science planning, and upcoming milestones as we prepare for launch readiness in 2025.
ER  -