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BATSE/CGRO Support to Other Spacecraft
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The intentional destruction of the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory was unfortunate for reasons of both safety and science. The loss of this scientific resource eliminates opportunities to gain new knowledge that can be used to enhance public safety. Faulty reasoning by a NASA administrator that astronomical observations do not contribute to improved safety and well-being of humankind is particularly shortsighted in view of the important role played by high-energy radiation detectors to monitor Solar weather and its effects upon telecommunications and power.
The loss of Compton means that there will be no telescope to monitor the cosmos in the crucially important nuclear gamma-ray line regime for at least two years, until the launch of the ESA-led INTEGRAL mission. It leaves the United States with no capability to detect Solar or cosmic nuclear gamma-ray lines in the foreseeable future, contingent upon the launch of HESSI, which was damaged at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory during testing.
The interconnectedness of scientific activities that was made possible by just one of the four telescopes on Compton -- the Burst and Transient Source Experiment (BATSE) -- is illustrated in the figure below.
Does Compton's Death matter?
