This is an artist's depiction of the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory
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Courtesy of NASA
Observatory's Life Comes to End
News story originally written on June 5, 2000
The Compton Gamma Ray Observatory fell into the Pacific Ocean. But don't worry, NASA wanted it to! They brought the satellite down through Earth's atmosphere. Part of it burned up and the rest went into the ocean.
The Compton Observatory studied gamma rays for nine years. We don't know what causes gamma rays, but we do know they come from stars and black holes.
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