GUSTO telescope to launch on a balloon! This NASA mission will map space between stars in Milky Way Galaxy

tech.hindustantimes.com:

NASA never fails to amaze with its groundbreaking projects. Currently, NASA scientists and Engineers are gearing up for an extraordinary NASA experiment named GUSTO (Galactic/Extragalactic ULDB Spectroscopic Terahertz Observatory) in Antarctica. According to NASA, this innovative project involves a balloon-borne telescope set to launch "no earlier than December 21” as per NASA. Yes, you read that right, it is a balloon-borne telescope. While it will be no match for the James Webb Space Telescope, It will still be a big cog in the gargantuan NASA machine consisting of land, air and space telescopes. It will launch from the Ross Ice Shelf, near the U.S. National Science Foundation's McMurdo Station research base.

As explained by NASA, GUSTO's primary mission is to peer into the interstellar medium, the space between stars, and create a 3D map of a significant portion of the Milky Way. Focusing on a 100-square-degree area, the telescope will utilize extremely high-frequency radio waves to explore various phases of the interstellar medium and analyze the abundances of crucial chemical elements, such as carbon, oxygen, and nitrogen.

By scanning for these elements, essential for life on Earth, GUSTO aims to unravel the intricate processes shaping the interstellar medium. This space, where diffuse cold gas and dust accumulate into molecular clouds, plays a pivotal role in the birth of stars and planets. GUSTO uniquely positions itself to examine the initial stages of this process, offering insights into how these clouds form.

GUSTO functions as a cosmic radio, tuned to high-frequency signals emitted by atoms and molecules. With its ability to detect signals a thousand times higher than those of cellphones, GUSTO acts as a cosmic