CubeSat: Little Satellite, Big Deal
An artist's rendering of the twin Mars Cube One (MarCO) spacecraft as they fly through deep space. The MarCOs will be the first CubeSats — a kind of modular, mini-satellite — attempting to fly to another planet. They're designed to fly along behind NASA's InSight lander on its cruise to Mars. NASA/JPL-Caltech hide caption
An artist's rendering of the twin Mars Cube One (MarCO) spacecraft as they fly through deep space. The MarCOs will be the first CubeSats — a kind of modular, mini-satellite — attempting to fly to another planet. They're designed to fly along behind NASA's InSight lander on its cruise to Mars.
NASA/JPL-CaltechMeet the CubeSat: a miniaturized satellite that's been growing in sophistication. In the last 20 years, over 1,000 CubeSats have been launched into space for research and exploration. We talk about three cutting-edge CubesSat missions, MarCO, Near-Earth Asteroid Scout, and Lunar Flashlight, and how this satellite technology evolved from university laboratories to deep space. (Encore)
Tweet to Emily Kwong at @emilykwong1234 and talk #scicomm with Joe on @joesbigidea. Plus, you can always reach the show by emailing shortwave@npr.org.