Compton Gamma Ray Observatory

199117 tonnesGamma-ray telescope

LocationSpace (LEO)

Year1991

Size17 tonnes

TypeGamma-ray telescope

About Compton Gamma Ray Observatory

One of the NASA Great Observatories. Deployed from Space Shuttle Atlantis in April 1991. Mapped the gamma-ray sky and recorded thousands of gamma-ray bursts. Showed that bursts come from all directions, pointing to distant origins. Deliberately deorbited into the Pacific in 2000 after a gyroscope failure.

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