NASA
Just thought I'd share this image of NASA's Compton Gamma Ray Observatory (CGRO) being deployed from the orbiter Atlantis...which embarked on shuttle flight STS-37 that launched this Great Observatory 30 years ago today. The Gamma Ray Observatory remained operational till 2000...when a failed gyropscope prompted NASA to intentionally deorbit the spacecraft since the loss of another gyroscope would have made it more difficult and dangerous to dispose of the satellite. The CGRO entered Earth's atmosphere above the Pacific Ocean on June 4, 2000—while two of the four other Great Observatories, the Hubble Space Telescope and Chandra X-ray Observatory (formerly called the Advanced X-ray Astrophysics Facility), are still observing the universe today. The last Great Observatory, Spitzer (a space telescope previously known as the Space Infrared Telescope Facility), was decommissioned by NASA on January 30 of last year.
On a personal note, I was in 5th grade when the Gamma Ray Observatory was launched!
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