Releasing Compton
Explanation:
Named for Nobel laureate physicist
Arthur
Holly Compton, the
Compton
Gamma Ray Observatory (CGRO) Satellite was launched in April of 1991
aboard the
Space Shuttle Atlantis.
CGRO's mission is to explore the Universe at gamma-ray energies.
The massive space based observatory is seen here held upright in the
shuttle payload bay behind smiling astronaut
Jerry Ross.
Ross and his colleague
Jay Apt
have just finished a successful, unplanned
spacewalk to free a jammed antenna prior to releasing CGRO into orbit.
CGRO has been operating successfully since, providing the
first all-sky survey at gamma-ray energies
along with exciting new observations of the
sun,
quasars,
pulsars,
supernova,
black holes,
and
gamma-ray bursts.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
