Even The Fancy NuSTAR Telescope Needs A Conventional Plane


NASA’s NuSTAR is a subject we’ve covered before; an X-Ray telescope that will — if it all works properly — provide up to 100 times better clarity than existing ground based telescopes. It’s due to take off next week via a more conventional means than you might think; strapped to the bottom of a plane.

The NuSTAR does use some rocketry — the shot in the image above shows the Pegasus XL rocket that will carry the NuSTAR to the stars — but first it’s got to get off the ground, and that’s the job of the L-1011 carrier aircraft above the rocket. All things being well with both takeoff and deployment within a very short time we’ll have an expanded capacity to search out black holes, study cosmic rays and find out more about the universe in general. Or, in simpler terms: Yay science! [NASA via Geekosystem]


The Cheapest NBN 50 Plans

It’s the most popular NBN speed in Australia for a reason. Here are the cheapest plans available.

At Gizmodo, we independently select and write about stuff we love and think you'll like too. We have affiliate and advertising partnerships, which means we may collect a share of sales or other compensation from the links on this page. BTW – prices are accurate and items in stock at the time of posting.