Mobile phone users will help unlock the secrets of the Solar System. NASA is
planning to piggyback an astronomy mission on a commercial communications
satellite. Its Cosmic Hot Interstellar Plasma Spectrometer (CHIPS) will be
launched in 2001 on a Russian Cosmos rocket. While the satellite relays
telephone calls, the attached spectrometer will scan the sky for extreme
ultraviolet radiation to determine the types of plasma in the Local Bubble, an
area surrounding the Sun that is thought to be filled with ionised gas.
More from 51¶¯Âþ
Explore the latest news, articles and features
Popular articles
Trending 51¶¯Âþ articles
1
Mathematicians stunned by AI's biggest breakthrough in mathematics yet
2
The Selfish Gene at 50: Why Dawkins’s evolution classic still holds up
3
How I used psychology to come back from the worst year of my life
4
Photos reveal unexpected details from the world's first atomic test
5
We may finally know why dinosaurs like T. rex evolved tiny arms
6
The ‘doomsday’ glacier’s giant ice shelf is about to break away
7
Mystery of the ancient giant stone jars of Laos may have been solved
8
The 3 things you need to know about protein, according to an expert
9
The distant world that is our best hope of finding alien life
10
Epic dreaming is leaving people exhausted and distressed
