Fall 2000 Education Link. This instrument will piggyback on a telecommunications satellite in order to detect extreme ultraviolet radiation from the interstellar plasma. Gamma rays allow us to study some of the most violent and energetic processes in the universe. This particle detection instrument, to be mounted on the International Space Station, will make detailed measurements of high-energy cosmic rays. Three mirrored spacecraft, separated by a million miles, will bounce laser beams between each other, enabling the detection of gravity waves from the far reaches of the universe.
Gravity waves provide clues to cataclysmic events, such as the collision of two black holes.