Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope - Mission

Mission

NASA designed the mission with a five-year lifetime, with a goal of ten years of operations.

The key scientific objectives of the Fermi mission have been described as:

• To understand the mechanisms of particle acceleration in active galactic nuclei (AGN), pulsars, and supernova remnants (SNR).
• Resolve the gamma-ray sky: unidentified sources and diffuse emission.
• Determine the high-energy behavior of gamma-ray bursts and transients.
• Probe dark matter (e.g. by looking for an excess of gamma rays from the center of the Milky Way) and early Universe.
• Search for evaporating primordial micro black holes (MBH) from their presumed gamma burst signatures .

The National Academies of Sciences ranked this mission as a top priority. Many new possibilities and discoveries are anticipated to emerge from this single mission and greatly expand our view of the Universe. (The following list is abbreviated as discoveries are made. To read about discoveries already made, see "Discoveries" below.)

• Blazars and active galaxies

Study energy spectra and variability of wavelengths of light coming from blazars so as to determine the composition of the black hole jets aimed directly at Earth -- whether they are

(a) a combination of electrons and positrons or

(b) only protons.

• Gamma-ray bursts

Study gamma-ray bursts with an energy range several times more intense than ever before so that scientists may be able to understand them better.

• Neutron stars

Study younger, more energetic pulsars in the Milky Way than ever before so as to broaden our understanding of stars. Study the pulsed emissions of magnetospheres so as to possibly solve how they are produced. Study how pulsars generate winds of interstellar particles.

• Milky Way galaxy

Provide new data to help improve upon existing theoretical models of our own galaxy.

• Gamma-ray background radiation

Study better than ever before whether ordinary galaxies are responsible for gamma-ray background radiation. The potential for a tremendous discovery awaits if ordinary sources are determined to be irresponsible, in which case the cause may be anything from self-annihilating dark matter to entirely new chain reactions among interstellar particles that have yet to be conceived.

• The early universe

Study better than ever before how concentrations of visible and ultraviolet light change over time. The mission should easily detect regions of spacetime where gamma-rays interacted with visible or UV light to make matter. This can be seen as an example of E=mc2 working in reverse, where energy is converted into mass, in the early universe.

• Sun

Study better than ever before how our own Sun produces gamma rays in solar flares.

• Dark matter

Search for evidence that dark matter is made up of weakly interacting massive particles, complementing similar experiments already planned for the Large Hadron Collider as well as other underground detectors. The potential for a tremendous discovery in this area is possible over the next several years.

• Fundamental physics

Test better than ever before certain established theories of physics, such as whether the speed of light in vacuum remains constant regardless of wavelength. Einstein's general theory of relativity contends that it does, yet some models in quantum mechanics and quantum gravity predict that it may not. Search for gamma rays emanating from former black holes that once exploded, providing yet another potential step toward the unification of quantum mechanics and general relativity. Determine whether photons naturally split into smaller photons, as predicted by quantum mechanics and already achieved under controlled, man-made experimental conditions.

• Unknown discoveries

Scientists estimate a very high possibility for new scientific discoveries, even revolutionary discoveries, emerging from this single mission.