[FPSPACE] FW: NASA GSFC: GLAST Space Observatory Preparing for EnvironmentalTesting

[LARRY KLAES]

>From: "AAS Press Officer Dr. Steve Maran" <Steve.Maran at aas.org>
>To: "AAS Press Officer Dr. Steve Maran" <steve.maran at aas.org>
>Subject: NASA GSFC: GLAST Space Observatory Preparing for 
>EnvironmentalTesting
>Date: Wed, 11 Apr 2007 18:11:26 -0400
>

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THE FOLLOWING RELEASE WAS RECEIVED FROM NASA'S GODDARD SPACE FLIGHT CENTER, 
IN GREENBELT, MARYLAND, AND IS FORWARDED FOR YOUR INFORMATION. (FORWARDING 
DOES NOT IMPLY ENDORSEMENT BY THE AMERICAN ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY.)  Steve 
Maran, American Astronomical Society  maran at aas.org  1-202-328-2010 x116


Contact:
Robert J. Gutro
1- 301-286-4044
Robert.J.Gutro at nasa.gov


April 11, 2007
RELEASE NO. 07-12


NASA'S GLAST MISSION ONE STEP CLOSER TO LAUNCH


NASA's next major space observatory, the Gamma-ray Large Area Space 
Telescope (GLAST), is one step closer to unveiling the mysteries of the 
high-energy universe. Almost all the components have been assembled onto the 
spacecraft, which will undergo a review this week before environmental 
testing begins at the primary contractor, General Dynamics Advanced 
Information Systems in Gilbert, Ariz.


GLAST will study the universe?s most extreme objects, observing physical 
processes far beyond the capabilities of earthbound laboratories. GLAST?s 
main instrument, the Large Area Telescope (LAT), operates like a particle 
detector rather than a conventional telescope. It is 30 times more sensitive 
(and even more at higher energies) than the best previous missions, enabling 
it to detect thousands of new gamma-ray sources while extending our 
knowledge of previously unidentified sources. For example, it will study how 
some black holes accelerate matter to near light speed and perhaps even 
reveal the nature of dark matter. The other instrument, the GLAST Burst 
Monitor (GBM), will detect roughly 200 gamma-ray bursts per year. Together 
with the LAT, the GBM will enable GLAST to make gamma-ray burst observations 
spanning a factor of a million in energy.


"These two instruments and the spacecraft have now been integrated and are 
working together as a single observatory," says GLAST project manager Kevin 
Grady of NASA?s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.


"The observatory is getting ready for the final testing in the simulated 
environment of space, so that any problems can be fixed to ensure that it 
will work when we launch it," adds Kathleen Turner, the LAT program manager 
at the United States Department of Energy, in Germantown, Md. The Department 
of Energy helped build the LAT in collaboration with other institutions in 
the United States, France, Italy, Japan, and Sweden. NASA?s Marshall Space 
Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala., built the GBM in collaboration with 
institutes in Germany.


On April 11 and 12, 2007, an independent committee of scientists and 
engineers commissioned by NASA will conduct a Pre-Environmental Review 
(PER). This committee, chaired by Mark Goans of NASA Goddard, has been 
monitoring the development of the mission over the past four years. This 
review is expected to last two days, and will make sure that all technical 
problems and anomalies have been resolved, and that the 4.7-ton spacecraft 
is ready to be "shake and baked."


Following the PER, environmental testing will begin. Each individual 
subsystem has already passed its own round of environmental testing, but 
this new set of procedures will make sure that the integrated observatory 
can survive the rigors of launch and the harsh conditions of space.


In the first test, called the Electro-Magnetic Interference test, operators 
will bombard the spacecraft with electromagnetic radiation to ensure that 
certain systems do not produce signals that interfere with other systems. As 
project scientist Steve Ritz of NASA Goddard explains, "If electrical noise 
from your beating heart causes a problem with your brain, you?d want to 
know about it."


Next, GLAST will undergo mechanical tests, which involves exposure to 
vibrations, shocks, and acoustic waves. The vibration test will make certain 
the entire spacecraft can survive the shaking of a Delta II Heavy rocket 
launch. With the tall spacecraft being shaken from its base, some of the 
appendages will be exposed to accelerations up to 15 times the force of 
Earth?s gravity. The shock test ensures it can survive separation from the 
booster.  The acoustic test examines if the craft can survive the terrific 
roar of a Delta II launch. Engineers will bombard the spacecraft with up to 
about 144 decibels of noise, louder than being in close proximity to a jet 
aircraft.


Finally, the team will subject GLAST to the Thermal-Vacuum test, which 
checks the spacecraft?s ability to withstand the vacuum of space and the 
extreme temperature swings it will experience as it goes in and out of 
sunlight during each orbit. This procedure will last about six weeks, the 
longest of all the environmental tests.


In mid-October, GLAST is scheduled to be flown to Cape Canaveral Air Force 
Station, Fla., on a C5 airplane. The spacecraft is scheduled to be launched 
into a low-Earth circular orbit no earlier than Dec. 14, 2007.


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 United States.


For more information on GLAST, please visit on the Web:
http://glast.gsfc.nasa.gov


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