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<font size=2>Dear SMI Students:<br><br>
Get involved with NASA's future. Take part in the renaming of the
future telescope mission. Please read the message from NASA for
more details...<br><br>
<br>
----- Original Message -----<br>
From: NASA News <hqnews@mediaservices.nasa.gov><br>
To: NASA News <hqnews@mediaservices.nasa.gov><br>
Sent: Thu Feb 07 12:50:00 2008<br>
Subject: NASA Calls for Suggestions to Re-Name Future Telescope
Mission<br><br>
<b>NASA CALLS FOR SUGGESTIONS TO RE-NAME FUTURE TELESCOPE
MISSION<br><br>
</b>WASHINGTON - NASA announced Thursday that members of the general<br>
public from around the world will have a chance to suggest a new
name<br>
for the cutting edge Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope, otherwise<br>
known as GLAST, observatory before it launches in mid-2008. The<br>
satellite will observe some of the most powerful forces known in the<br>
universe.<br><br>
"The idea is to give people a chance to come up with a name that
will<br>
fully engage the public in the GLAST mission," said Steve Ritz,
the<br>
mission's project scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center,<br>
Greenbelt, Md.<br><br>
The mission's scientific objectives are to:<br><br>
- Explore the most extreme environments in the universe, where
nature<br>
harnesses energies far beyond anything possible on Earth<br>
- Search for signs of new laws of physics and what composes the<br>
mysterious dark matter<br>
- Explain how black holes accelerate immense jets of material to<br>
nearly light speed<br>
- Help crack the mysteries of the stupendously powerful explosions<br>
known as gamma-ray bursts<br>
- Answer long-standing questions about a broad range of phenomena,<br>
including solar flares, pulsars and the origin of cosmic rays<br><br>
"We're looking for name suggestions that will capture the
excitement<br>
of GLAST's mission and call attention to gamma-ray and high-energy<br>
astronomy. We are looking for something memorable to commemorate
this<br>
spectacular new astronomy mission," said Alan Stern, associate<br>
administrator for Science at NASA Headquarters in Washington.
"We<br>
hope someone will come up with a name that is catchy, easy to say
and<br>
will help make the satellite and its mission a topic of dinner table<br>
and classroom discussion."<br><br>
Suggestions for the mission's new name can be an acronym, but it is<br>
not a requirement. Any suggestions for naming the telescope after a<br>
scientist may only include names of deceased scientists whose names<br>
are not already used for other NASA missions. All suggestions will
be<br>
considered. The period for accepting names closes on March 31, 2008.<br>
Participants must include a statement of 25 words or less about why<br>
their suggestion would be a strong name for the mission. Multiple<br>
suggestions are encouraged.<br><br>
To submit a suggestion for the mission name, visit:<br><br>
<a href="http://glast.sonoma.edu/glastname">
http://glast.sonoma.edu/glastname</a><br><br>
Anyone who drops a name into the "Name That Satellite!"
suggestion box<br>
on the Web page can choose to receive a "Certificate of<br>
Participation" via return e-mail. Participants also may choose
to<br>
receive the NASA press release announcing the new mission name. The<br>
announcement is expected approximately 60 days after launch of the<br>
telescope.<br><br>
NASA's GLAST mission is an astrophysics and particle physics<br>
partnership, developed in collaboration with the U.S. Department of<br>
Energy, along with important contributions from academic
institutions<br>
and partners in France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Sweden, and the
U.S.<br><br>
For more information about the GLAST mission, visit:<br><br>
<a href="http://www.nasa.gov/glast">http://www.nasa.gov/glast</a><br><br>
Grey Hautaluoma<br>
Headquarters, Washington<br>
202-358-0668<br>
grey.hautaluoma-1@nasa.gov<br><br>
Lynn Cominsky<br>
Sonoma State University, Rohnert Park, Calif.<br>
707-664-2655<br>
lynnc@universe.sonoma.edu<br><br>
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****************************************************************<br>
<font face="Garamond" size=4 color="#000080"><b>Leslie Bushong<br>
</b></font><font color="#000080">Director, California
Teach-Science/Mathematics Initiative (CaTEACH-SMI) <br>
1104 Pierce Hall<br>
University of California, Riverside<br>
voice: (951) 827-4970<br>
fax: (951) 827-4971<br>
website:
<a href="http://smi.ucr.edu/" eudora="autourl">http://smi.ucr.edu<br><br>
<br><br>
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