[CaTEACH-SMI] NASA CALLS FOR SUGGESTIONS TO RE-NAME FUTURE TELESCOPE MISSION

[Leslie Bushong]

Dear SMI Students:

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...


----- Original Message -----
From: NASA News <hqnews at mediaservices.nasa.gov>
To: NASA News <hqnews at mediaservices.nasa.gov>
Sent: Thu Feb 07 12:50:00 2008
Subject: NASA Calls for Suggestions to Re-Name Future Telescope Mission

NASA CALLS FOR SUGGESTIONS TO RE-NAME FUTURE TELESCOPE MISSION

WASHINGTON - NASA announced Thursday that members of the general
public from around the world will have a chance to suggest a new name
for the cutting edge Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope, otherwise
known as GLAST, observatory before it launches in mid-2008. The
satellite will observe some of the most powerful forces known in the
universe.

"The idea is to give people a chance to come up with a name that will
fully engage the public in the GLAST mission," said Steve Ritz, the
mission's project scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center,
Greenbelt, Md.

The mission's scientific objectives are to:

- Explore the most extreme environments in the universe, where nature
harnesses energies far beyond anything possible on Earth
- Search for signs of new laws of physics and what composes the
mysterious dark matter
- Explain how black holes accelerate immense jets of material to
nearly light speed
- Help crack the mysteries of the stupendously powerful explosions
known as gamma-ray bursts
- Answer long-standing questions about a broad range of phenomena,
including solar flares, pulsars and the origin of cosmic rays

"We're looking for name suggestions that will capture the excitement
of GLAST's mission and call attention to gamma-ray and high-energy
astronomy. We are looking for something memorable to commemorate this
spectacular new astronomy mission," said Alan Stern, associate
administrator for Science at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "We
hope someone will come up with a name that is catchy, easy to say and
will help make the satellite and its mission a topic of dinner table
and classroom discussion."

Suggestions for the mission's new name can be an acronym, but it is
not a requirement. Any suggestions for naming the telescope after a
scientist may only include names of deceased scientists whose names
are not already used for other NASA missions. All suggestions will be
considered. The period for accepting names closes on March 31, 2008.
Participants must include a statement of 25 words or less about why
their suggestion would be a strong name for the mission. Multiple
suggestions are encouraged.

To submit a suggestion for the mission name, visit:

<http://glast.sonoma.edu/glastname>http://glast.sonoma.edu/glastname

Anyone who drops a name into the "Name That Satellite!" suggestion box
on the Web page can choose to receive a "Certificate of
Participation" via return e-mail. Participants also may choose to
receive the NASA press release announcing the new mission name. The
announcement is expected approximately 60 days after launch of the
telescope.

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 U.S.

For more information about the GLAST mission, visit:

<http://www.nasa.gov/glast>http://www.nasa.gov/glast

Grey Hautaluoma
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-0668
grey.hautaluoma-1 at nasa.gov

Lynn Cominsky
Sonoma State University, Rohnert Park, Calif.
707-664-2655
lynnc at universe.sonoma.edu


****************************************************************
Leslie Bushong
Director, California Teach-Science/Mathematics Initiative (CaTEACH-SMI)
1104 Pierce Hall
University of California, Riverside
voice: (951) 827-4970
fax: (951) 827-4971
website: http://smi.ucr.edu



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