Related Missions and Websites

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SIM Lite represents an entirely new measurement capability in astronomy that is both distinct from, yet complementary to, the capabilities of other planned space observatories. Its capabilities include searching for and measuring Earthlike planets, determining the masses and evolution of stars, and observing galactic nuclei and quasars.

	Science objectives		Complementary science
Kepler	Launched in March 2009, Kepler is a spaceborne photometer designed to survey distant stars to determine the prevalence of Earth-like planets. Kepler will provide statistics on the frequency of Earth-size planets, and also larger planets, along with data on their size and orbital orientation.		Kepler will provide statistics on which star types are the best candidates for SIM Lite's planet searches. SIM Lite will be able to detect and measure the masses of Jupiter-size planets that may be additional, invisible companions of stars discovered by Kepler to have transiting planets.
Gaia	Gaia is an astrometric mission under development by the European Space Agency It will conduct a census of millions stars in our galaxy, precisely charting their positions, distances, movements, and changes in brightness. Gaia will be able to find massive, Jupiter-class planets and will suggest the general preponderance of stars with planets.		SIM will give a targeted view of interesting objects beyond Gaia's sensitivity and precision limits. Gaia will provide more precise positions of stars than currently available, thus reducing the time required for SIM to make follow-up measurements with higher precision. SIM will investigate fewer stars than Gaia, but will do so more precisely, enabling investigations into dark matter. The combination of the stellar reference frames from both missions will result in more accuracy than either observatory can achieve alone. Comparison of discovery spaces for SIM Lite and Gaia
James Webb Space Telescope	The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is a large, infrared-optimized space telescope scheduled for launch in 2013.		SIM will provide planetary targets for follow up observations by James Webb. Transiting planets discovered by Kepler and predicted by SIM measurements can be observed by JWST to acquire information on exoplanet atmospheres, weather, and temperatures.
CoRoT	CoRoT, launched by the European Space Agency in December, 2008, is a photometric mission whose goals include the detection of rocky planets, several times larger than Earth, orbiting other stars. CoRoT detects small reductions in starlight when a planet crosses the line of sight between the star and spacecraft.		SIM Lite will be able to measure the masses of planets discovered by CoRoT and determine if the system contains additional planets.