The Miniature X-ray Solar Spectrometer (MinXSS) is a 3-year, ~$1 million project to design and build a 30cm x 10cm x 10cm satellite that will be launched into low-Earth orbit to take observations of the Sun. Specifically, the intensity of the soft x-ray spectrum from 0.6 keV (20 Å) to 5 keV (2.5 Å) will be measured, with particular interest in solar flares and active regions. This project heavily involves its graduate student team members with scientists and engineers at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP), located on east campus at CU.
