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Orbiting Telescope Will Retire

By Nick McMaster,  Newser Staff

Posted Oct 17, 2007 7:18 PM CDT

(Newser) – An orbiting telescope whose findings were the basis of over 1,200 research papers will be shut down tomorrow, after an unexpectedly productive eight-year run, The Discovery Channel reports. The Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer (FUSE) detected a bubble of gas surrounding the Milky Way, located remains of exploded stars, and measured elements of the Big Bang.

Launched in 1999, FUSE was designed for a three-year run, and early mechanical failures threatened to cut it even shorter. But in a series of ingenious engineering moves, such as using the earth's gravitational field as a stabilizer, ground control teams were able to keep the telescope operational until this July, when a final malfunction put it beyond repair.

In a new ultraviolet image released by NASA 05 May, 2007, the...
In a new ultraviolet image released by NASA 05 May, 2007, the...   (Getty Images)
NGC 4319 And Markarian Seen In Space
NGC 4319 And Markarian Seen In Space   (Getty Images)
In this undated photo released by The Johns Hopkins University, the Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer control room in the basement of the Bloomberg Center for Physics and Astronomy at Johns Hopkins University's Homewood, Md., campus is shown. Launched in 1999, the FUSE was tuned to the short ultraviolet wavelengths that...
In this undated photo released by The Johns Hopkins University, the Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer control room in the basement of the Bloomberg Center for Physics and Astronomy at Johns Hopkins...   (Associated Press)
In this undated photo released by The Johns Hopkins University, the Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer control room in the basement of the Bloomberg Center for Physics and Astronomy at Johns Hopkins University's Homewood, Md., campus is shown. Launched in 1999, the FUSE was tuned to the short ultraviolet wavelengths that...
In this undated photo released by The Johns Hopkins University, the Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer control room in the basement of the Bloomberg Center for Physics and Astronomy at Johns Hopkins...   (Associated Press)
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