The European Space Agency has successfully launched its Cheops satellite as part of a mission to explore exoplanets that exist beyond our Solar System. Assuming everything goes according to plan, Cheops will be used to learn more about these distant planets, some of which are believed to be potentially capable of sustaining life. This is the first time the ESA has launched a mission dedicated to these planets.
Exoplanet is the term used to refer to an extrasolar planet, which means one located outside of our Solar System. There are billions of these planets, the evidence of which was discovered in the early 1900s. Humanity received its first confirmation of an exoplanet’s existence in 1992, something that has snowballed into the regular discovery of exoplanets due largely to more modern technologies.
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Stop breadboarding and soldering – start making immediately! Adafruit’s Circuit Playground is jam-packed with LEDs, sensors, buttons, alligator clip pads and more. Build projects with Circuit Playground in a few minutes with the drag-and-drop MakeCode programming site, learn computer science using the CS Discoveries class on code.org, jump into CircuitPython to learn Python and hardware together, TinyGO, or even use the Arduino IDE. Circuit Playground Express is the newest and best Circuit Playground board, with support for CircuitPython, MakeCode, and Arduino. It has a powerful processor, 10 NeoPixels, mini speaker, InfraRed receive and transmit, two buttons, a switch, 14 alligator clip pads, and lots of sensors: capacitive touch, IR proximity, temperature, light, motion and sound. A whole wide world of electronics and coding is waiting for you, and it fits in the palm of your hand.
Have an amazing project to share? The Electronics Show and Tell is every Wednesday at 7pm ET! To join, head over to YouTube and check out the show’s live chat – we’ll post the link there.
