On June 11, 2008, a Delta II rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, carrying with it a gamma ray space telescope. The scope was called GLAST - the Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope. It has since been renamed the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, or FGST for short.
Its main instrument was intended to perform an all-sky survey studying astrophysical and cosmological phenomena such as active galactic nuclei, pulsars, and dark matter. Other instruments study gamma ray bursts and solar flares.
The mission had a five-year timeline, but the telescope has remained operational, and continues to function into 2022.
I think this launch footage is quite beautiful. This channel is focused on model rocketry and high power hobby rocketry, but I like the real stuff too, and this launch is first rate!
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#shorts #rocket #spacetelescope
