On Dec. 4, the bread loaf-sized Miniature X-Ray Solar Spectrometer, or MinXSS, CubeSat is scheduled to rocket to space alongside thousands of pounds of supplies and science experiments destined for the International Space Station. MinXSS will study the spectroscopy of soft x-rays, a particular type of light from the sun. This light is highly variable and can impact Earth's upper atmosphere, which can in turn affect communications such as GPS and radio.
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