KSC-2011-6953
VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. – In a clean room at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, the Pegasus XL launch vehicle awaits a fillet and wing fit check. The Orbital Sciences Corp. Pegasus rocket will launch the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) into space. After the rocket and spacecraft are processed at Vandenberg, they will be flown on the Orbital Sciences’ L-1011 carrier aircraft to the Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site at the Pacific Ocean’s Kwajalein Atoll for launch. The high-energy X-ray telescope will conduct a census for black holes, map radioactive material in young supernovae remnants, and study the origins of cosmic rays and the extreme physics around collapsed stars. For more information, visit science.nasa.gov/missions/nustar/. Photo credit: NASA/Randy Beaudoin, VAFB
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Details
NASA ID
KSC-2011-6953
Date Created
September 13, 2011
Center
KSC
Media Type
image
Location
Vandenberg AFB, CA
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