USRA and the Center for Research and Exploration in Space and Science Technology Provides Support to Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope
June 11, 2008
Contact: Michael Corcoran
410-740-6223
mcorcoran@usra.edu
Still from Fermi beauty animation. Credit: NASA
Columbia, MD, June 11, 2008 - USRA, as part of the
Center for Research and Exploration in Space and Science Technology (CRESST), is enabling exploration of some of the most exotic physical phenomena in the Universe and advancing our understanding of the nature of the Universe through its participation in the Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope effort.
Launched on June 11, 2008, the Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope (named in honor of physicist and Nobel Laureate Enrico Fermi) is a unique collaborative effort across the astrophysics and particle physics communities that teams NASA and the US Department of Energy with institutions in France, Germany, Japan, Italy, and Sweden. Fermi provides astrophysicists with an exceptional observatory for studying natural phenomena at extremely high energies. Fermi enables scientists to explore the high-energy gamma-ray Universe in order to probe the most extreme events and environments known, including regions near black holes, stellar explosions, and extremely powerful magnetic fields. Fermi will also enable astronomers to answer fundamental questions about the physics of solar flares and the origin of cosmic rays, will allow cosmologists to gather valuable information about the birth and early evolution of the Universe, and may provide information that will help solve the riddle of dark energy and dark matter.
USRA scientists have played key roles in all aspects of the Fermi mission. USRA scientist Dr. Alex Moiseev led the development of one of Fermi's key instruments, the Anti-Coincidence Shield. The Anti-Coincidence Shield is Fermi's outermost active detector and plays a critical role in enabling its main instrument, the Large Area Telescope (LAT), to operate at an unprecedented level of sensitivity. The LAT comprises 16 identical detector components in a 4x4 grid, all covered by the segmented Anti-Coincidence Shield. The Anti-Coincidence Shield actively filters out more than 99.97% of the background radiation produced by particles near Fermi’s orbit, allowing the LAT to detect cosmic gamma-ray sources at a sensitivity that is approximately 30 times better than its predecessor, the Energetic Gamma Ray Experiment Telescope (EGRET). This large performance improvement opens a new and important window on a wide variety of high-energy astrophysical phenomena and may lead to the discovery and study of non-conventional physics.
Other USRA/CRESST contributors to the Fermi mission include Dr. Chris Shrader, who heads the Fermi Science Support Center (FSSC). The FSSC is responsible for disseminating Fermi data to the astrophysical community, providing analysis software, managing review of Fermi observing proposals submitted by the science community, and scheduling Fermi observations. Dr. Michael Corcoran serves as archive scientist for the Fermi mission and is responsible for the ultimate archiving of Fermi data to allow scientific discoveries long after the mission has ended. Dr. Don Kniffen manages the fellowship program for the Fermi project, which provides support for young astrophysicists in gamma-ray research and also serves on the Fermi Users Group, which helps determine science priorities for the observatory and serves as the liaison between the Fermi project and the science community.
About CRESST
The Center for Research and Exploration in Space Science and Technology (CRESST) represents a collaboration between USRA, the University of Maryland, College Park, and the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, in partnership with the Science Mission Directorate (SMD) at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC). The CRESST mission is to conduct space science research and to develop leading-edge instrumentation and technology; to enable research by the space sciences communities; and to expedite the effective dissemination of space science research, technology, data and information to the education community and the general public.
About USRA
The Universities Space Research Association, established in 1969 by the National Academy of Sciences, is a private, nonprofit consortium of 102 universities offering advanced degrees in space- and aeronautics-related disciplines. USRA's mission is to conduct leading-edge research, develop innovative technologies, promote education and policy across the breadth of space science, and operate premier science and technology facilities by involving universities, private industry and government.
