Hybrid Starshade Could Let Telescopes Directly Image Rocky Exoplanets

NASA-led researchers propose HOEE, a hybrid observatory that pairs an orbital starshade with ground-based extremely large telescopes to directly image rocky Earth-like exoplanets by blocking starlight; the occulter would orbit ~175,000 km away in an elongated orbit, using 48 petals and a 50 m disk, and be precisely positioned by microthrusters to suppress glare, enabling optical observations of nearby systems within ~20 light-years and the search for atmospheric life signatures; Phase B NIAC funding is sought for 2027, with an inflatable final design to keep launch mass under 1,500 kg and a total cost around a billion dollars.