The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has launched the CURIE mission in an effort to investigate the origins of mysterious signals emanating from the Sun.
Scientists first discovered the existence of these mysterious signals from the Sun several decades ago. These signals are transmitted through space in the form of radio waves.
Close-up of activities on the Sun’s surface. (Photo: NASA).
To date, experts have determined that these signals originate from solar flares and large eruptions on the Sun known as coronal mass ejections (CMEs), according to an article on Futurism dated July 11.
CMEs are the source of solar storms, which can affect satellite operations and technology on Earth. However, no one knows exactly where the mysterious signals originate during a CME event.
The CURIE mission, initiated by NASA, employs low-frequency radio interferometry technology, which has never been used in previous space missions.
CURIE relies on two independent CubeSat satellites operating in Earth’s orbit, approximately 3.6 km apart. This distance allows CURIE’s instruments to measure the slightest differences in the travel time of the mysterious radio waves to Earth, thereby pinpointing the origin of these enigmatic signals.
“This is an ambitious and incredibly exciting mission,” said the project’s principal investigator, David Sundkvist, a researcher at the University of California, Berkeley.
According to him, this mission marks the first time an agency has applied controlled radio interferometry in space, paving the way for future radio astronomy techniques.
