Wednesday, November 17, 2004
News Home - Help
NASA Calls Off Launch of Black Hole-Hunter
1 hour, 10 minutes ago
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - With just hours left in the countdown, NASA (news - web sites) called off the launch Wednesday of a spacecraft that will hunt for emerging black holes.
Missed Tech Tuesday?Today, satellite radio is all the rage. But do you choose XM or Sirius?
The launch was postponed for at least a day because of trouble with an electronic box aboard the unmanned Delta rocket, part of the safety system for destroying the vehicle if it flies off course.
Once in orbit, NASA's Swift spacecraft will swivel quickly to detect gamma ray bursts in the universe, which scientists believe represent the creation of black holes. Black holes are believed to be the invisible remains of collapsed stars; black holes' gravitational pull is so great that not even light can escape from one.
Besides NASA, the Italian Space Agency and Britain's particle physics and astronomy research council are taking part in the $250 million mission.
___
On the Net:
NASA: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/swift/main/index.html
Story Tools
Email Story
Post/Read Msgs (90)
Formatted Story
Ratings: Would you recommend this story?
Not at all 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 Highly
Copyright © 2004 The Associated Press. reserved.Questions or CommentsPrivacy Policy -Terms of Service - Copyright Policy - Ad Feedback
