Flame and smoke mark the launch of the Delta II rocket with NASA's Gamma-Ray Large Area Space Telescope or GLAST.

On Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's Launch Pad 17-B, flame and smoke mark the launch of the Delta II rocket with NASA's Gamma-Ray Large Area Space Telescope , or GLAST, aboard. Liftoff was at 12:05 p.m. EDT. GLAST is a powerful space observatory that will explore the universe's ultimate frontier, where nature harnesses forces and energies far beyond anything possible on Earth; probe some of science's deepest questions, such as what our universe is made of, and search for new laws of physics; explain how black holes accelerate jets of material to nearly light speed; and help crack the mystery of stupendously powerful explosions known as gamma-ray bursts. Launch is scheduled for 11:45 a.m. June 11. Photo credit: NASA/Jerry Cannon, Robert Murray