Media Information
 
 
 
Collection:
NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day Collection
Title:
Vela Satellites: The Watchers
Explanation:
In October of 1963 the US Air Force [ http://www.dtic.dla…] launched the first in a series of satellites inspired by a recently signed nuclear test ban treaty [ gopher://wealaka.okg eosurvey1.gov/11/nuk e.treaties ]. Signatories of this treaty agreed not to test nuclear devices in the atmosphere or in space. These "Vela" (from the Spanish verb [ http://www.willamet…] velar, to watch) satellites were part of an unclassified program whose goal was to develop the technology to monitor nuclear tests from space. A Vela satellite [ http://heasarc.gsfc…] is pictured above in an artist's conception, keeping watch over the Earth. The high energy radiation sensors onboard the Velas did not detect any clandestine nuclear explosions [ http://www.pal.xgw.…]. Instead, in the most surprising discovery [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] in the history of space based astronomy, they found bursts of gamma rays [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] coming from deep space! The mysterious origin of these brief, intense flashes of gamma rays is one of the most hotly debated topics [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] in modern astrophysics.
Credit and Copyright:
Courtesy of HEASARC [ http://heasarc.gsfc…], at NASA/GSFC.
facet_when:
1963
facet_where:
Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC)
facet_where:
Washington, D.C.
facet_what:
Earth
facet_what:
Vela
facet_when_year:
1963
original url:
http://antwrp.gsfc.…
UID:
SPD-APOD-ap951105

Vela Satellites: The Watchers
Add To Workspace Export