Selparis

Space Exploration

NASA’s NuSTAR Black Hole Hunter

Posted on: May 7th, 2012 by partapsingh No Comments

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab just posted this video introducing the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) X-Ray telescope. This is a purely non-technical (public-friendly) presentation, so I’ll try and get more detailed information about the project. Personally, I’m more interested in the launch method, which is an L-1011 carrying one of Burt Rutan’s Pegasus rockets.

Just a thought: NASA really needs to do a better job of explaining to the public why the information we might get from black hole research might be valuable. They certainly don’t make that clear in this video, and I worry that they risk facing more budget cuts if they don’t grab the public’s attention a bit more compellingly.

The project was supposed to launch on March 21st, but has been delayed, and they’re looking at a possible June launch. Apparently, the delay was due to software problems with the launch vehicle.

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