Why does LIFE plan to use four collector spacecraft and not only two?
The number of collector spacecraft is not defined yet, but if it is higher than 2 the nulling technique can more effectively suppress the stellar light and it is also easier to discriminate axis-symmetric emission (e.g., exo-zodiacal dust) from asymmetric emission (e.g., exoplanet). In addition, the total collecting area of LIFE is important as this … Continued