After 9 years in space, during which it detected some of the highest-energy radiation in the universe, NASA’s Compton Gamma Ray Observatory (GRO) came to a crashing end on June 4.
As planned for several months, controllers fired thrusters on the observatory that gradually lowered its orbit, sending it hurtling though Earth’s upper atmosphere. The charred remains of the 17-ton craft landed in the Pacific Ocean about 3,800 kilometers southeast of Hawaii.
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