NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory Launches Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST)

Exam-focused facts from the 4 July 2026 current affairs briefing.

Key facts

The National Science Foundation (NSF) and Department of Energy (DOE) Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile has officially launched the 10-year Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) mission.
The LSST camera is the world's largest, featuring 189 individual CCD image sensors and the ability to capture 3,200-megapixel photos every 40 seconds.
The observatory will collect approximately 10 terabytes of photos nightly, taking about 1,000 photos per night to create a time-lapse record of the southern sky.
The mission focuses on understanding dark energy and dark matter, while also conducting a detailed census of the Solar System's asteroids and comets.
The LSST aims to capture data on approximately 20 billion galaxies, 17 billion stars, and 6 million solar system objects.