Posted: Wed, Nov 21, 2001, 2:22 PM ET (1922 GMT)
The Canadian Space Agency announced Tuesday that it will launch a small space telescope on a Russian booster late next year. The Microvariability and Oscillations of STars (MOST) will be launched on a Rockot booster from Plesetsk, Russia in October 2002 as part of a multi-satellite payload. MOST, about the size of a suitcase and weighing 60 kg, will use a 15-cm telescope to measure very small variations in the light from stars. This information will be used to probe the interiors of stars and determine the age of particularly old stars, setting a lower limit on the age of the universe. The telescope will also be able to look for extrasolar planets orbiting Sun-like stars by looking for transits of those planets across the disks of the stars.

Related Links:

•  CSA press release
•  MOST web site