The GLAST spacecraft began its mission to explore the extreme universe by riding to space atop a Delta II rocket.
The Delta II is designed to boost medium-sized satellites and robotic explorers into space. For this launch. NASA
used a two-stage rocket equipped with nine strap-on solid rocket boosters.
The liftoff from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's Launch Pad 17-B came 20 minutes into the launch window at 12:05 p.m. EDT. on June 11. 2008.
At about 75 minutes after launch. the GLAST spacecraft separated from the second stage as it reached its circular orbit 350 miles above Earth.
The Gamma-Ray Large Area Space Telescope. or GLAST. has since been re-named the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope.
Fermi will study gamma-ray radiation. the most energetic form of radiation. billions of times more energetic than the type of light visible to our eyes.
Astronomers using Fermi have detected gamma-rays from a nova for the first time. a finding that stunned observers and theorists alike.