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This mission is focused on measuring fundamental properties that are used daily in astronomical observations. It might impact and change the way we measure or understand the properties of stars, surface temperatures, and the habitability of exoplanets.

When we look at a star with a telescope, no one can tell you today the rate of photons or brightness coming from it with the desired level of accuracy. We will now know exactly how many photons-per-second come out of this source to .25 percent accuracy.

"Flux calibration is essential for astronomical research. We constantly ask: ‘How big? How bright? How far?’ and then ponder: ‘What is the universe made of? Are we alone?’ Accurate answers require precise measurements and excellent instrument characterization,”

This is an incredibly exciting opportunity for Mason and our students. Our team will design, build, and integrate the payload, which—because it’s going very high into geostationary orbit—must handle incredible challenges.

Major new telescopes – like the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope and the Vera C. Rubin Observatory – intend to measure the expansion history of the universe using the brightnesses of supernovae. However, errors in brightness calibration across wavelengths could lead to incorrect measurements. LANDOLT will solve this problem by providing telescopes with light of known brightness

Being a part of this space mission along with brilliant experts by contributing to target selection and data analysis is an exciting prospect.The impact that the Landolt mission will have in different areas of astrophysics, notably in exoplanet characterization and in measuring the accelerating expansion of the Universe, will be particularly important

Landolt is an exciting opportunity to enable absolute calibration in astronomy at an unprecedented level. For as long as people have looked up at the night sky, a fundamental question has always been: what is the true brightness of that star?  Even with today’s modern instruments, true brightness calibration has only been good to a few percent, and Landolt will enable an improvement by more than a factor of 10.  Understanding the true brightness of stars allows to understand the stars better – and, perhaps more importantly, understand the planets that orbit the stars better. Landolt has the opportunity to change astronomy for the relatively minimal cost of a PIONEER program.

The measurements by Landolt will enable tremendous progress for a wide range of ground-based astronomical observations.

The University of Victoria is excited to bring what we've learned from the CSA-funded, UVic-led ORCASat CubeSat satellite mission in 2023 to the new, larger NASA-funded and George Mason University-led Landolt mission for the satellite calibration of ground-based astronomical observatories, as an institutional Collaborator on Landolt.

Even with today’s modern instruments, true brightness calibration has only been good to a few percent, and Landolt will enable an improvement by more than a factor of 10.  Understanding the true brightness of stars allows to understand the stars better – and, perhaps more importantly, understand the planets that orbit the stars better.