NuSTAR Hitches a Ride on the 'Stargazer'

This photo shows the Orbital Sciences Corporation Pegasus XL rocket with the NuSTAR spacecraft after attachment to the L-1011 carrier aircraft known as "Stargazer." The Pegasus will launch NuSTAR into space, where the high-energy X-ray telescope will conduct a census for black holes, map radioactive material in young supernovae remnants, and study the origins of cosmic rays and extreme physics around collapsed stars.

Photo credit: NASA/Randy Beaudoin, VAFB