The Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer (FUSE),
was launched June 24, 1999, and was decommissioned on October 18, 2007,
after failure of the pointing system on the satellite.
The Canadian
and French
space agencies were partners with NASA in designing and operating the
FUSE Mission. FUSE was operated for NASA by the
Henry A. Rowland Department
of Physics and Astronomy at the Johns Hopkins University.
Over eight years of operations, FUSE acquired over 6000 observations
of nearly 3000 separate astronomical targets.
All the archived data is now public and no longer requires user
registration.
Astronomers used FUSE to observe a tremendous range of object types,
from planets and comets in our solar system to hot and cool stars in
our Milky Way and nearby galaxies, and even to distant active galaxies
and quasars. However, FUSE's real claim to fame was its ability to
sense and diagnose the physical conditions in the tenuous regions of
interstellar and intergalactic space, regions that are often considered
to be empty!
For more information, read the
Mission Overview or use the menu
at left to navigate the site.