Each day we feature a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. Satellite was launched in April of 1991 aboard the Space Shuttle Atlantis . CGRO's mission is to explore the Universe at gamma-ray energies. The massive space based observatory is seen here held upright in the shuttle payload bay behind smiling astronaut Jerry Ross . Ross and his colleague Jay Apt have just finished a successful, unplanned spacewalk to free a jammed antenna prior to releasing CGRO into orbit.
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