NASA's Dark Energy Telescope Could Spot 3,000 New Planets

A mission NASA is designing to probe the nature of mysterious dark energy could discover thousands of alien planets as well.

NASA's proposed Wide-field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST) mission aims to help researchers better understand dark energy, the puzzling stuff that makes up about three-quarters of the universe and drives its accelerating expansion.

But WFIRST — which is tentatively scheduled to launch in the early to mid-2020s — should also prove to be an adept planet hunter, complementing the activities of the space agency's prolific Kepler space telescope, researchers say