High-flying NASA 'NACHOS' instrument may help predict volcanic eruptions

NASA is launching a prototype instrument that could make it easier to monitor volcanic activity and air quality. Perched aboard a CubeSat about 300 miles (480 kilometers) above Earth's surface, the "Nanosat Atmospheric Chemistry Hyperspectral Observation System," or NACHOS, will use a compact hyperspectral imager to locate sources of trace gasses in areas as small as 0.15 square miles (0.4 square kilometers)—about the size of the Mall of America in Minnesota. NACHOS is part of Northrop Grumman's 17th resupply mission to the International Space Station from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island, Virginia.