Delta II rocket coming together for NASA's GLAST satellite launch

GLAST is a powerful space observatory that will explore the most extreme environments in the Universe, where nature harnesses energies far beyond anything possible on Earth. It will 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, and help crack the mysteries of the stupendously powerful explosions known as gamma-ray bursts.

The GLAST spacecraft is 9.2 feet high by 8.2 feet in diameter when stowed in the rocket, where it is just under the 9-foot diameter allowed in the fairing. GLAST becomes a little bit taller and much wider after it is launched into space, when the Ku-band antenna deploys and the solar arrays are extended.

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 United States.

For related images, please visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/GLAST/news/delta_rocket.html
http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/news/topstory/2008/delta_rocket.html

For more information about GLAST, please visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/glast

Status reports are available on the Web at:

http://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/launchingrockets/status/2008/

Rob Gutro / George H. Diller
Goddard Space Flight Center / Kennedy Space Center