NASA seeks help in naming telescope
Friday Feb 8 10:31 AEDT
Space agency NASA is asking the public to come up with a name for its latest mission into outer space.
The Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope, otherwise known as GLAST, is due to be launched on May 16. The satellite will observe some of the most powerful forces known in the universe.
The GLAST mission will orbit the Earth looking out into space for the presence of black holes, gamma-ray bursts, pulsars and other high-energy phenomena.
"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," NASA associate administrator for science Alan Stern said.
"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."
Previous NASA missions names have included the Galileo mission to Jupiter (named after Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei), the Hubble Space telescope (US astronomer Edwin Hubble) and Messenger (stands for (MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging).
The period for accepting names closes on March 31. Participants must include a statement of 25 words or less about why their suggestion would be a strong name for the mission.
The winning name will be announced soon after the telescope's launch.
To submit a suggestion for the mission name, visit:
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