telescope coupled to an ultraviolet fiber-fed spectrograph. FIREBALL is designed to study
the faint and diffuse emission of the intergalactic medium, until now detected primarily in
absorption. FIREBALL is a path finding mission to test new technology and make new
constraints on the temperature and density of this gas. We report on the first successful
science flight of FIREBALL, in June 2009, which proved every aspect of the complex …