Big Questions for NuSTAR
The Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array is a pathfinder mission that will open the high energy X-ray sky for sensitive study for the first time. This mission is part of SMD's Astrophysics Explorers program.
- What are the origin, evolution and fate of the Universe?
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Two of the most profound questions that all cultures, both past and present, have asked are: where did we come from and what is our destiny? Throughout history philosophers, theologians, and scientists have debated these questions. NASA Science seeks to provide quantitative information pertinent to these basic elements of human curiosity by enabling scientists and engineers to construct instruments and make measurements on these topics that were once the purview of thought experiments only.
- How do planets, stars, galaxies and cosmic structure come into being?
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In order to understand how the Universe has changed from its initial simple state following the Big Bang (only cooling elementary particles like protons and electrons) into the magnificent Universe we see as we look at the night sky, we must understand how stars, galaxies and planets are formed.