Releases with Photos
Back to Releases with Photos Index

Release Title:

NASA scientists designing new instrument to detect the most powerful blasts in the universe
0001973.jpg

Dr. Charles Meegan -- an astrophysicist at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. — has more than 20 years experience designing, building and operating instruments to study gamma-ray bursts, such as the Burst and Transient Source Experiment, shown in the background. Meegan and his team are designing a new burst monitor, shown on the diagram, to help unravel the mystery of the forces that create gamma-ray bursts -- the most powerful explosions in the universe. Meegan, who likes working puzzles, says he enjoys putting together the clues to solve the mystery of what causes these tremendous blasts. The photomultiplier tubes, foreground, are used in combination with special crystals to detect gamma rays.

Credit: NASA Marshall Space Flight Center photo by Emmett Given.

[] Download Information
[] Resolution   Format  Width
 (Pixels) 		 Height
 (Pixels) 		  DPI 
[] Thumbnail JPG 100 100 72
[] Medium JPG 516 720 72
[] Large JPG 2152 3000 300
[]
Marshall Center Deputy Director Carolyn Griner

burst.jpg

Dr. Charles Meegan, an astrophysicist at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., is leading a team of scientists developing a new burst monitor, shown in this artists concept. This new instrument will be flown on NASA’s Gamma Ray Large Area Space Telescope, or GLAST — planned for launch in 2005, shown in the small artist drawing, upper right. The GLAST Burst Monitor, in conjunction with the GLAST Large Area Telescope, will provide the broadest energy coverage ever available on a single spacecraft for gamma-ray studies. This may give astrophysicists the crucial information for determining the nature of gamma-ray bursts -- one of the greatest mysteries of astrophysics.

Credit: NASA Marshall Space Flight Center artist concept by Halley Little

[] Download Information
[] Resolution   Format  Width
 (Pixels) 		 Height
 (Pixels) 		  DPI 
[] Thumbnail JPG 100 100 72
[] Medium JPG 720 677 72
[] Large JPG 2120 1900 300
Marshall Center Deputy Director Carolyn Griner

STS-37-99-565x7.jpg

 Astrophysicists at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., will use more than 20 years experience designing, building and operating instruments -- such as the Burst and Transient Source Experiment (BATSE) — to build the GLAST Burst Monitor (GBM). The eight BATSE detectors, shown here, were on the corners of NASA’s Compton Gamma Ray Observatory. After 9 productive years, NASA returned Compton to Earth on June 4.

Credit: NASA photo

[] Download Information
[] Resolution   Format  Width
 (Pixels) 		 Height
 (Pixels) 		  DPI 
[] Thumbnail JPG 100 100 72
[] Medium JPG 504 485 72
[] Large JPG 2100 2023 300
[]
News Center Home | Background Information | Photos | Media Services | Contact Us | Site Map