This series of images show NASA's NuSTAR and its rocket dropping from the carrier "Stargazer" plane.
A winged Orbital Sciences Pegasus XL rocket drops from a carrier aircraft high above the Pacific Ocean to launch NASA's NuSTAR space telescope on June 13, 2012, in this still from a NASA webcast.
Artist's concept of NuSTAR on orbit. NuSTAR has a 10-m (30') mast that deploys after launch to separate the optics modules (right) from the detectors in the focal plane (left). The mission's launch is now scheduled for no earlier than March 21, 2012.
The NuSTAR mission will deploy the first focusing telescopes to image the sky in the high energy X-ray (6 - 79 keV) region of the electromagnetic spectrum. The mission's launch is now scheduled for no earlier than March 21, 2012.
NuSTAR spacecraft will allow astronomers to study the universe in high energy X-rays. Here it undergoes a solar array illumination test. Image tweeted Feb. 3, 2012.
Using a deployable structure allows NuSTAR to launch on a Pegasus XL rocket, one of the smaller launch vehicles available. The mission's launch is now scheduled for no earlier than March 21, 2012.
By focusing X-rays, the Earth-orbiting NuSTAR space telescope will study black holes and other exotic objects in the distant universe.
Artist's concept of NuSTAR on orbit. The mission's launch is now scheduled for no earlier than March 21, 2012. NuSTAR has two identical optics modules in order to increase sensitivity. The background is an image of the galactic center obtained with the Chandra X-ray Observatory.
The first NuSTAR optics module (“FM0”) completed on 2010 August 5. NuSTAR will fly two optics units, each with 133 layers of grazing incidence optics. The mission's launch is now scheduled for no earlier than March 21, 2012.
The payload transporter carrying the environmentally controlled shipping container enclosing NASA's Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) is parked in the airlock at Vandenberg Air Force Base (VAFB) in California. The mission's launch is now scheduled for no earlier than March 21, 2012.
Artist's concept of NuSTAR on orbit. NuSTAR has two identical optics modules in order to increase sensitivity. The background is an image of the galactic center obtained with the Chandra X-ray Observatory.
Essential to the NuSTAR design is a deployable mast which extends to 10 meters (30 feet) after launch. This mast will separate the NuSTAR X-ray optics from the detectors, a necessity to achieve the long focal length required by the optics design. The mission's launch is now scheduled for no earlier than March 21, 2012.
The integrated NuSTAR observatory, including the instrument and spacecraft, at Orbital Sciences Corporation (OSC) in Dulles, Virginia on June 29, 2011. The observatory is being prepared for environmental testing, including testing in a thermal vacuum chamber and vibration testing. The mission's launch is now scheduled for no earlier than March 21, 2012.
The integrated NuSTAR observatory, including the instrument and spacecraft, at Orbital Sciences Corporation (OSC) in Dulles, Virginia in January 2012. The mission's launch is now scheduled for no earlier than March 21, 2012.
The NuSTAR glass optics are being shaped at the Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) mirror development lab, led by Will Zhang. The mission's launch is now scheduled for no earlier than March 21, 2012.
In the airlock at Vandenberg Air Force Base (VAFB) in California, NASA's Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR), wrapped in a protective shroud, comes into view as the environmentally controlled shipping container is lifted away from the spacecraft. The mission's launch is now scheduled for no earlier than March 21, 2012.
The integrated NuSTAR instrument, including optics modules, detectors and the stowed mast, at JPL on April 19, 2011. The mission's launch is now scheduled for no earlier than March 21, 2012.
The transporter for the Orbital Sciences Pegasus XL rocket rolls into the sunlight outside Orbital’s hangar at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The rocket is mated to NASA's Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array, or NuSTAR, encapsulated in the Pegasus payload fairing. The transporter will move them to the runway ramp where they will be attached to the underside of Orbital’s L-1011 carrier aircraft. The aircraft will fly the pair from Vandenberg to the Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site on the Pacific Ocean’s Kwajalein Atoll for launch. A revised launch date will be set at the Flight Readiness Review, planned for later this week. The high-energy X-ray telescope will conduct a census of black holes, map radioactive material in young supernovae remnants, and study the origins of cosmic rays and the extreme physics around collapsed stars.
Computer graphic of what the NuSTAR satellite would look like, fully extended. The mission's launch is now scheduled for no earlier than March 21, 2012.
NuSTAR will investigate the hottest regions in the universe, studying sources ranging from neutron stars to supernovae to black holes and the sun. Developed by an international team, this Small Explorer mission will launch no earlier than March 21, 2012, and spend at least two years observing the high energy universe.
An Orbital Sciences technician completes final checks of NASA's Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array, or NuSTAR, inside the Orbital Sciences processing facility at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California before the Pegasus payload fairing is secured around it. Image released March 2, 2012.
A spacecraft technician is performing closeout work inside the fairing that will be installed around NASA's Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) spacecraft in a processing facility at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Image released March 2, 2012.
At Vandenberg Air Force Base's processing facility in California, the separation ring on the aft end of NASA's Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array, or NuSTAR, at right, inches its way toward the third stage of an Orbital Sciences Pegasus XL rocket under the watchful eye of a member of the Orbital Sciences technical team. Image released Feb. 23, 2012.
Technicians roll the Orbital Sciences Pegasus XL rocket with NASA's NuSTAR spacecraft to the waiting L-1011 carrier aircraft known as "Stargazer."
Technicians move the tilt-rotation fixture holding NASA's NuSTAR spacecraft inside Orbital Sciences' processing facility at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. The spacecraft will be rotated to horizontal for joining with the Pegasus XL rocket. Image taken February 16, 2012.
An Orbital Sciences technician completes final checks of NASA's NuSTAR spacecraft inside Orbital's processing facility at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California before the Pegasus payload fairing is secured around it. Photo taken March 2, 2012.
Technicians roll the Orbital Sciences Pegasus XL rocket with NASA's NuSTAR spacecraft to the waiting L-1011 carrier aircraft known as "Stargazer." Photo taken June 2, 2012.
The Orbital Sciences Pegasus XL rocket with NASA's NuSTAR spacecraft is attached to the L-1011 carrier aircraft known as "Stargazer." Photo taken June 2, 2012.
In this image from February 2012, technicians review their checklists after joining NASA's NuSTAR spacecraft with the Orbital Sciences Pegasus XL rocket inside an environmental enclosure at Vandenberg Air Force Base's processing facility in California.
An Orbital Sciences Corporation owned L-1011 "Stargazer? takes-off with a Pegasus rocket carrying the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array satellite here Tuesday, June 5, 2012. The NuSTAR satellite will image high-energy X-rays, giving scientists a new perspective on black holes, supernovae and galactic nuclei.
An Orbital Sciences Corporation owned L-1011 "Stargazer? takes-off with a Pegasus rocket carrying the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array satellite here Tuesday, June 5, 2012. The NuSTAR satellite will image high-energy X-rays, giving scientists a new perspective on black holes, supernovae and galactic nuclei.
An Orbital Sciences Corporation owned L-1011 "Stargazer” takes-off with a Pegasus rocket carrying the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array satellite here Tuesday, June 5, 2012. The NuSTAR satellite will image high-energy X-rays, giving scientists a new perspective on black holes, supernovae and galactic nuclei.
An Orbital Sciences Corporation owned L-1011 "Stargazer” takes-off with a Pegasus rocket carrying the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array satellite here Tuesday, June 5, 2012. The NuSTAR satellite will image high-energy X-rays, giving scientists a new perspective on black holes, supernovae and galactic nuclei.
An Orbital Sciences Corporation owned L-1011 "Stargazer” takes-off with a Pegasus rocket carrying the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array satellite here Tuesday, June 5, 2012. The NuSTAR satellite will image high-energy X-rays, giving scientists a new perspective on black holes, supernovae and galactic nuclei.
