Air Force pursues nano-satellite technology

U.S. Air Force scientists are trying to develop microelectromechanical devices that some day could help them design space satellites no larger than baseballs called "nanosatellites." These tiny spacecraft could "revolutionize the future of space access by significantly reducing the size, weight, power requirements, complexity, and ultimately, costs of space systems," says 1st Lt. Adrian Michalick, microelectromechanical systems program manager at the U.S. Air Force Phillips Laboratory at Kirtland AFB, N.M. Phillips experts will launch several proof-of-concept miniature accelerometers called Microsystem And Packaging for Low-power Electronics, or MAPLE, in December 1997. - J.K.