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NASA Puts 'Finishing Touches' on GLAST

Posted on: Tuesday, 13 May 2008, 15:00 CDT

The U.S. space agency said it is putting the finishing touches on its Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope, or GLAST, which is to be launched June 3.

Scientists at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, near the Kennedy Space Center, are supervising the installation of such equipment as sun shades and thermal blankets.

Sun shades are like a visor you flip down in your car on a sunny day to block the sun's glare so you can see the road, said Steve Ritz, GLAST project scientist. They shade the spacecraft's optical instruments from stray light coming from the sun, the Earth and the moon.

Once the shades are installed, temporary covers are placed on the open part of the shades to protect the optics from debris. The covers are removed after the rocket fairing -- the shell of the rocket where GLAST will be located -- is installed on the launch vehicle prior to flight.

Thermal blankets will protect GLAST from the harsh environment of space.

NASA's GLAST mission is an astrophysics and particle physics partnership, developed in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Energy and scientists in France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Sweden.

Source: United Press International

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