Science: In July 1967, US surveillance satellites looking for signs of a Russian nuclear test in space recorded two flashes of gamma radiation. Scientists quickly determined that the high-energy bursts did not come from a nuclear explosion, which would have generated a more sustained stream of gamma rays and also produced lower energy radiation detectable by other satellite instruments. Only years later did they realize that the flashes--named gamma ray bursts (GRBs)--originated in violent events deep in space. In scanning the heavens for an enemy secret, they had stumbled upon a cosmic one.Now, researchers are opening the window wider with a new telescope designed to record gamma radiation several orders of magnitude higher in energy than current instruments can detect. NASA's Gamma-ray Large Area Satellite Telescope (GLAST), scheduled for launch next month, will also be the first instrument of its kind to survey the entire sky several times a day, increasing the chances of finding and following extreme astronomical phenomena anywhere in the universe.
GLAST gamma ray telescope preps for launch
