Patent ID: 9658073
Date: 2017-05-23
CPC Classifications: B64G,G01C,G01J

Claim:
1. An extrasolar planetary star tracker apparatus for a spacecraft which allows the spectral observation of an extrasolar planetary star system with at least one exoplanet comprising: a housing for a gas absorption cell placed in the path of the extrasolar planetary star system spectrum being observed; a gas absorption cell placed in the housing configured to receive the spectrum from the extrasolar planetary star system with at least one exoplanet; a spectrometer used to detect the extrasolar planetary star system spectrum from the gas absorption cell; and a data bus connecting the spectrometer to an electronics assembly, wherein the electronics assembly is comprised of a processor and memory used to compare the spectrum detected by the spectrometer to an onboard extrasolar planetary star system reference database to derive an onboard spacecraft navigation solution.