Launch Success
Liftoff Time (GMT)
15:44:00
Thursday June 24, 1999
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The Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer (FUSE) is a space-based telescope operated by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. FUSE was launched on a Delta II rocket on 24 June 1999, as a part of NASA's Origins program. FUSE detected light in the far ultraviolet portion of the electromagnetic spectrum, between 90.5-119.5 nanometres, which is mostly unobservable by other telescopes. Its primary mission was to characterize universal deuterium in an effort to learn about the stellar processing times of deuterium left over from the Big Bang.
Low Earth Orbit
1 Payload
1,360 kilograms
Manufacturer
ULARocket
Height: 38.9m
Payload to Orbit
LEO: 2,703 kg
Liftoff Thrust
2,533 Kilonewtons
Fairing
Diameter: 3m
Height: 8.9m
Stages
2
Strap-ons
3
83rd
Mission
6th
Mission of 1999
36th
Orbital launch attempt