Sonoma State Star

Issue date: 2/19/08 Section: News

The GLAST telescope that needs to be renamed...perhaps by you... [Click to enlarge]

[Click to enlarge]

SSU students, faculty and administrators now have an opportunity to suggest a name for the Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope, otherwise known as GLAST, planned to launch into space on May 15. In fact, SSU's own Education and Public Outreach Program (E/PO) has been appointed to be in charge of organizing the renaming suggestion process - creating a truly historic moment in SSU history.

Last Thursday, Feb. 7, NASA announced that people all over the world will have the chance to suggest names for the GLAST, a telescope that will be able to explore the world of black holes, dark matter particles and the events called "gamma-ray bursts", and even possibly discover new laws of physics. Out of numerous universities in the U.S., NASA has asked SSU's E/PO program and personnel to design a website where any person can suggest a name for the telescope satellite.

"We're interested in a name for GLAST that will be catchy and memorable but also spark conversation in homes, classrooms and workplaces about this exciting mission to study the most high energy phenomena known in the universe," said Grey Hautaluoma of the Office of Public Affairs at NASA Headquarters in Washington.

To E/PO Program Director and Professor Lynn Cominsky, this was a moment she had been waiting for over 16 years ago, since she first started working on the GLAST mission in 1992.

"It's exciting to have the public involved," said Cominsky. "In less than one week, we've already had over 4,000 suggestions. I had estimated around 5,000 or 10,000 names total."

Cominsky added that the EPO team had worked with NASA lawyers for some six weeks developing the website.

"We are thrilled that something we created is getting so much world-wide response," said Cominsky. She also informed the STAR that "Science" magazine had interviewed her earlier that day, confirming that SSU's involvement with NASA is indeed significant.

NASA will announce the decided name exactly two months after the satellite's launch. There will not be a winner, but all suggestions are considered, as stated on EPO's website (http://glast.sonoma.edu/glastname/).

The website includes more information on suggesting names, such as only suggesting names of people whom are deceased, in keeping with the NASA tradition. Each person who suggests a name will also have the option of receiving a certificate of participation in the NASA renaming process.

"I suggested 'The Incredible Hulk', because in that story, the character, Bruce Banner, comes into contact with gamma-rays in an accident," said Schell Scivally, E/PO Flash Consultant.

The GLAST satellite launch is an international and multi-agency mission, and a collaboration between academic institutions and partners within the U.S., France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Sweden. The mission is also a collaborative effort of NASA and the Department of Energy, with NASA funding astrophysicists and the Dept. of Energy funding particle physicists.

NASA has been working on GLAST since its approved proposal in 1999 and began building it in 2000.

Following the decision of a new name for GLAST, NASA will hold the suggestions as statistical data, categorizing suggestions by name, origin of country and/or zip code.

The GLAST is made up of two main sections: the Large Area Telescope (LAT) and the GLAST Burst Monitor (GBM). The LAT will enable the GLAST to see up to 20 percent of the sky and will detect a wide range of gamma-ray energies. The GBM consists of low and high energy detectors that can identify around 200 energetic explosions annually (http://glast.sonoma.edu).

GLAST is designed to study more closely the activity of gamma-ray bursts, which are created from black holes ejecting streams of matter, as they collide and form the largest explosions in the universe, or by massive stars collapsing to black holes in supernova explosions. The energy released from these gamma-ray bursts is "more energy in a fraction of a second than our sun could release in 10 billion years" (http://glast.sonoma.edu/index.html).

E/PO web contributors include Scientific Illustrator Aurore Simonnet, GTN Director Dr. Kevin McLin and Flash Consultant Schell Scivally. The E/PO group is located on the third floor of the Schulz Information Center. The E/PO group is affiliated with NASA and has connected with them on several projects. The group educates teachers, parents, students and the public on NASA projects and news. They also design educational materials and tools for the classroom.

To be considered for a suggestion for the GLAST, visit http://glast.sonoma.edu/glastname/ to suggest a name until the deadline on March 31.

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