Iridium is also a system of 66 communication satellites around the earth. Named for the element Iridium, it was originally to have 77 satellites, but was later redesigned to have its current number. The name was retained. Iridium allows worldwide voice and data communications using handheld devices.
The KT event, marking the temporal border between the Cretacious and Tertiary eras of geological time, was identified by a thin stratum of iridium of extraterrestrial origin, attributed to a comet thought to have struck near what is now the [Yucatan Peninsula]?