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- The Compton Gamma Ray Observatory (GRO) was the second of NASA's Great Observatories. Compton, at 17 tons, was the heaviest astrophysical payload ever flown at the time of its launch on April 5, 1991 aboard the space shuttle Atlantis. Compton was safely deorbited and re-entered the Earth's atmosphere on June 4, 2000. The objective of the Compton GRO was to make comprehensive observations of gamma ray sources throughout the Universe. The observatory carried four scientific instruments that made gamma ray energy measurements from 0.1 million electron volts to 30,000 million electron volts. The end of life was in June 2000. The failure of 1 gyroscope requires the deorbitation of the satellite in order to make sure it will not fall in a populated area. It is too large to completely burn in the atmosphere. Specifications: Prime contractor: TRW Dimension: 7.7 x 5.5 x 4.6 m Mass at launch: 15622 kg Dry mass: 13800 kg Solar array: 21.5 m Stabilization: 3-axis DC power: EOL: 3980 W Design lifetime: 2 years (min) Additional information available at "http://cossc.gsfc.nasa.gov/"
[Summary provided by NASA and The Satellite Encyclopedia]
Group: Platform_Details Entry_ID: GRO Group: Platform_Identification Platform_Category: Solar/Space Observation Satellites Short_Name: GRO Long_Name: Gamma-Ray Observatory End_Group Group: Synonymous_Platform_Names Short_Name: CGRO Short_Name: GRO Short_Name: 1991-027B Short_Name: 20225 End_Group Group: Platform_Associated_Instruments Short_Name: BATSE End_Group Group: Orbit Orbit_Inclination: 28.5 degrees Period: 90 m Perigee: 362 km Apogee: 457 km Orbit_Type: LEO > Low Earth Orbit > Inclined Non-Polar End_Group Online_Resource: http://cossc.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/cgro/index.html Sample_Image: http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/image/spacecraft/cgro.jpg Group: Platform_Logistics Launch_Date: 1991-04-05 Launch_Site: Cape Canaveral/Kennedy Space Center, USA Primary_Sponsor: NASA End_Group End_Group
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