Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope
An artist's conception of the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. (Credit: NASA/Sonoma State)
Lifetime: June 2008 - present
Country (primary): United States
Primary Science
The Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, or Fermi for short, was designed to survey gamma rays from astronomical sources in the energy range from 10 keV to over 300 GeV. Its science objectives are to explore the most extreme environments in the universe, study the acceleration of relativistic velcocity jets of material by black holes, detect and collect data on gamma-ray bursts, and help gain a better understanding of other cosmic phenomena, such as solar flares, pulsars, and the origin of cosmic rays.