The Swift project will study gamma ray bursts given off by deep space objects like this black hole.
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Courtesy of NASA

NASA Reveals Two New Missions
News story originally written on October 28, 1999

NASA has two new missions! The Swift and FAME projects were chosen to be part of the MIDEX program. Swift will launch in 2003 and FAME will launch in 2004.

The Swift spacecraft will use three different telescopes to study gamma ray bursts. These bursts are given off by deep space objects like black holes! Scientists will use the data to learn about the edges of the Universe.

FAME stands for the Full-sky Astrometric Mapping Explorer. It will find the brightness and location of millions of stars in our galaxy! Scientists will know more about the stars than ever before!

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