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GLAST Safely in Orbit, Getting Check-ups
June 20, 2008Less than a week after launch, NASA's Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope, or GLAST, is safely up-and-running well in orbit approximately 350 miles (565 kilometers) above Earth's surface.
GLAST was successfully launched aboard a Delta II rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida at 12:05 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, June 11.
For four weeks, engineers will continue to be busy around the clock turning on and checking out the various components on the spacecraft. "Things are looking good so far," said GLAST Deputy Project Scientist Julie McEnery from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. "We expect to turn the instruments on in about a week, and we can't wait to see the first gamma rays!"
Two days after launch, both of GLAST's solar arrays were rotated successfully. The solar arrays are the "wings" of GLAST that utilize the Sun's energy to power the spacecraft. That same day, flight software controlled heaters were enabled. Those heaters are important because they help GLAST to operate in the cold of space.
"Once the Large Area Telescope is operational, GLAST will survey the entire sky every three hours, using the sky survey control mode," said Kathy Turner, U.S. Department of Energy GLAST Program Manager, Germantown, Md. Sky survey is the primary science fine pointing control mode for the mission.
On Monday, June 16, "Two star trackers are also now acquiring and identifying stars," said GLAST program manager Kevin Grady of NASA Goddard. "All systems continue to function well as the activation continues," he said.
NASA's GLAST mission is an astrophysics and particle physics partnership, developed in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Energy, along with important contributions from academic institutions and partners in France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Sweden, and the U.S.
Goddard Space Flight Center
Two days after launch, both of GLAST's solar arrays were rotated successfully. The solar arrays are the "wings" of GLAST that utilize the Sun's energy to power the spacecraft. That same day, flight software controlled heaters were enabled. Those heaters are important because they help GLAST to operate in the cold of space.
"Once the Large Area Telescope is operational, GLAST will survey the entire sky every three hours, using the sky survey control mode," said Kathy Turner, U.S. Department of Energy GLAST Program Manager, Germantown, Md. Sky survey is the primary science fine pointing control mode for the mission.
On Monday, June 16, "Two star trackers are also now acquiring and identifying stars," said GLAST program manager Kevin Grady of NASA Goddard. "All systems continue to function well as the activation continues," he said.
NASA's GLAST mission is an astrophysics and particle physics partnership, developed in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Energy, along with important contributions from academic institutions and partners in France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Sweden, and the U.S.
Goddard Space Flight Center
GLAST News and Current GLAST Events RSSGLAST Observatory renamed for Fermi, reveals entire gamma-ray sky
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and NASA announced today that the Gamma-Ray Large Area Space Telescope (GLAST) has revealed its first all-sky map in gamma rays.
Study shows clumps and streams of dark matter in inner regions of the Milky Way
Using one of the most powerful supercomputers in the world to simulate the halo of dark matter that envelopes our galaxy, researchers found dense clumps and streams of the mysterious stuff lurking in the inner regions of the halo, in the same neighborhood as our solar system.
UC Santa Cruz physicists eagerly await launch of NASA space telescope they helped build
When NASA launches its newest space observatory, physicists at the University of California, Santa Cruz, will be watching as the product of nearly 16 years of hard work blasts into orbit.
Searching the heavens
A new space mission, due to launch this month, is going to shed light on some of the most extreme astrophysical processes in nature - including pulsars, remnants of supernovae, and supermassive black holes.
Delta II Rocket Coming Together for NASA's GLAST Satellite Launch
The Delta II 7920-H, or "Heavy," rocket that will launch NASA's Gamma-ray Large Area Telescope (GLAST) satellite is in the process of being assembled on Launch Pad 17-B at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla.
NASA's GLAST Satellite Gets Twin Solar Panels in Prep for Launch
Preparations for launching NASA's Gamma-ray Large Area Telescope (GLAST) satellite are underway at NASA's Kennedy Space Center (KSC), Fla. NASA KSC's "NASA Expendable Launch Vehicle Status Report" on Thursday, March 20, noted that GLAST's twin solar panels have been attached.
On October 10th at the Canaries the Magic telescope will be inaugurated: the biggest in the world for the study of gamma radiation
On October 10th the Magic Telescope (Major Atmospheric Gamma Imaging Cherenkov telescope) will be inaugurated. The telescope is located La Palma island, 2200 meters above the sea level at the Observatory Roque de los Muchachos, of the Itituto Astrofisico de Canarias. With his 17-meter-diameter-mirror and 240 square meters surface, it's the largest telescope in the world dedicated to 'gamma astronomy', that is devoted to the detection of gamma rays. Magic is the result of an international collaboration to which Italy has given a fundamental contribution through the researchers of the Italian National Institute of Nuclear Physics (Infn), belonging to the sections the universities of Padova, Si
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