NASA preps black hole-hunting space telescope for launch next month

Scientists will soon have a new tool at their disposal in their search for black holes and a greater understanding of what NASA describes as "the most energetic and exotic objects in space." The space agency announced that it has begun preparing its Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array -- otherwise known as NuSTAR -- for launch from Kwajalein Atoll in the central Pacific Ocean, with a liftoff planned in June. 

The telescope is by far the most advanced of its type to date, boasting ten times the resolution and more than 100 times the sensitivity of its predecessors, as well as a new design that relies on a complex set of 133 ultra-thin nested mirrors.