NASA launches NuSTAR to study cosmic mysteries

Yesterday, NASA kickstarted its latest mission to look for black holes in the universe, when it saw the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) launch over the central Pacific Ocean at 9 a.m. PDT (noon EDT) Wednesday.

NuSTAR that was placed atop Orbital's Pegasus XL rocket, set off aboard a L-1011 "Stargazer" aircraft, operated by Orbital Sciences Corporation, Dulles, Va.

According to an official post on NASA, the plane departed from Kwajalein Atoll in the central Pacific Ocean an hour before launch. "At 9:00:35 a.m. PDT (12:00:35 p.m. EDT), the rocket dropped, free-falling for five seconds before firing its first-stage motor.About 13 minutes after the rocket dropped, NuSTAR separated from the rocket, reaching its final low Earth orbit. The first signal from the spacecraft was received at 9:14 a.m. PDT (12:14 p.m. EDT) via NASA's Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System," the post further added.