How hard is it to do gamma-ray astronomy?

All of the energy from gamma-ray bursts ever measured by all instruments that have ever flown is roughly ten one-millionths of a joule, or less than the energy it would take to lift a penny by its own thickness. The kinetic energy of the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory is about four hundred billion Joules, or enough to lift the U.S. national debt (in pennies) an entire inch.