Galaxy Evolution Explorer On Its Way

COSMOLOGY

The mission's ultraviolet detectors will hone in on galaxies containing young, hot, short-lived stars that emit a great deal of ultraviolet energy. Because these galaxies are actively creating stars, studying them will help scientists learn more about how, when and why stars form inside galaxies.

Pasadena - Apr 30, 2003
NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer spacecraft was successfully launched Monday from a Pegasus XL rocket released by an L-1011 aircraft off the coast of Florida's Cape Canaveral Air Station at 7:59:57 a.m. EDT.

The mission features an orbiting telescope that will observe millions of galaxies across 10-billion years of cosmic history. Its findings may help astronomers determine when the chemical elements originated and the stars we see today first blossomed.

After the space observatory separated from the rocket's third stage � at 11 minutes and 5 seconds after release from the L-1011 carrier aircraft -- it entered into Earth orbit at an altitude of 690 kilometers (429 miles).

The spacecraft's signal was acquired at about 8:21 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time (5:21 Pacific Daylight Time) by the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System. At 8:45 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time (5:45 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time), the satellite deployed its solar arrays and locked on to the Sun.

A tracking station near Perth, Australia then acquired the spacecraft's signal at 8:54 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time (5:54 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time).

After one month of in-orbit checkout, the science mission will begin. It will last for up to 28 months.

The Galaxy Evolution Explorer mission is led by the California Institute of Technology, which is also responsible for science operations and data analysis.

COSMOLOGY

Galaxy Evolution Explorer Looks Back In Time

Pasadena - Apr 28, 2003
NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX) will carry a telescope into Earth orbit that will observe a million galaxies, across 10 billion years of cosmic history, to help astronomers determine when the stars we see today had their origins.

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