Requiem for an observatory

摘要

One of NASA's most productive satellites is about to meet a fiery end. Henry Bortman assesses the achievements of the Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory, and considers the missions that will follow in its footsteps. Early in the morning of 4 June, a swath of the central Pacific Ocean some 4,000 kilometres southeast of Hawaii will be kept clear of shipping and aircraft—and for good reason. If all goes to plan, 17 tonnes of satellite will come hurtling out of orbit, disintegrate in the atmosphere, and rain down as a series of fireballs over a belt roughly 1,500 kilometres long by 25 kilometres wide.