NASA’s MinXSS-3 CubeSat collects first data following Feb launch

NASA's Miniature X-Ray Solar Spectrometer 3 (MinXSS-3) has collected its first data following its launch in February 2022 and the instrument will soon be ready to study its main target, the space agency said on Wednesday.

MinXSS-3, aka Dual Aperture X-ray Solar Spectrometer (DAXSS), was launched on the InspireSat-1 small satellite on February 13, 2022, to study X-rays coming from solar flares. It will spend up to a year in low-Earth orbit.

"Following its February launch, NASA's MinXSS-3 CubeSat has now collected its first data. In an initial test, the primary scientific instrument is performing well, and soon the CubeSat will be ready to study its main target – flares from the Sun," NASA tweeted.

Following its February launch, NASA's MinXSS-3 CubeSat has now collected its first data! 📈 In an initial test, the primary scientific instrument is performing well, and soon the CubeSat will be ready to study its main target – flares from the Sun. ☀️ https://t.co/SrCaN5NlxH

— NASA Sun & Space (@NASASun) March 8, 2022

Solar flares are energetic bursts of light and particles triggered by the release of magnetic energy on the Sun that travel across the solar system. MinXSS will study the energetics of these flares in wavelengths known as soft X-rays, that are particularly impactful on Earth's ionosphere and can hamper GPS, radio, and other communications signals.

According to NASA, MinXSS-3's observations, which can record even very weak solar flares, will give a better understanding of the physics behind solar flares as well as how such events heat up material in the Sun's hot outer atmosphere called the corona.

MinXSS-3 is the third of three NASA-funded MinXSS CubeSats. The previous two missions - MinXSS-1 and MinXSS-2 - were launched on 6 December 2015 and 4 December 2018, respectively.