A new space telescope will enter into orbit during a launch window, scheduled on June 13 at 11:30 a.m. EDT.
Along with other scientists, Penn State astronomers will deploy NASA's new Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) to discover black holes and other X-ray-generating dramatic objects existing in space.
NuSTAR will generate clear, intensely focused images of high-energy cosmic X-rays.
The NuSTAR observatory will be released from Marshall Islands-based Kwajalein Atoll on an Orbital Sciences Corporation Pegasus XL launch vehicle, which will be launched from an aircraft soaring to the atoll’s south. Online broadcast of live coverage and commentary will start 90 mins prior to scheduled launch.
The mission targets objects in the universe that are very hot, energetic as well as dense such as black holes, ultra-dense neutron stars, high-speed jets having velocity similar to speed of light, and supernova remnants, and the Sun. NuSTAR will also resolve the joint evolution of black holes and galaxies over cosmic time.
NuSTAR will enable the "Extragalactic Surveys" Science Team Working Group to perform survey with high sensitivity on two well-studied extragalactic fields including the Extended Chandra Deep Field-South.
With operation in the same energy range, the observatory represents over 100 times the sensitivity and over 10 times the resolution when compared to its predecessor telescopes.
The mission will currently deploy other telescopes such as NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and NASA's Swift space satellite. Penn State's Mission Operations Center in State College, Pa will control the science and flight operations of those devices. NuSTAR and the other two observatories will combine to contribute a complete picture of the most energetic and rare objects in space.
Source: http://www.psu.edu/