One
important component of NASA's overall Space Science Enterprise is the search
for answers to fundamental questions about the Galaxy and the universe.
What is the universe? How did it begin? How does it work? What is its ultimate
fate? Scientists at SSL are helping to address important parts of these
complex questions through their continuing scientific explorations. The
spacecraft, telescopes, and instrumentation designed, built, and operated
by SSL scientists probe the universe with ever-increasing capability in
several different regions of the electromagnetic spectrum.
The highest energy form of electromagnetic radiation is found in gamma-rays.
SSL is home to a world-class group of gamma-ray astronomers. The Burst and Transient Source Experiment
(BATSE) on NASA's Compton
Gamma-Ray Observatory (CGRO) is a primary focus of the gamma-ray group
in SSL. BATSE provides astronomers with information on the enigmatic Gamma-Ray
Bursts (thought by many to originate from the most remote corners of the
universe), on black-hole and neutron star systems in our own Milky Way Galaxy,
and on other transient phenomena in the universe.
X-ray astronomy represents a second component of the research performed
here at SSL. Astronomers in this field are currently working to build the
Advanced X-Ray
Astrophysics Facility (AXAF), an X-ray telescope to be deployed in orbit
that will provide a ten-fold increase in the quality of X-ray data obtained
to this point on a wide variety of astrophysical sources.
As a satellite, AXAF is a sister-ship to NASA's Hubble Space Telescope and
Compton GRO, and will provide another informative window on the universe.
In addition to AXAF, SSL astronomers are also busy developing instrumentation
for high-altitude balloon flights to further our knowledge of the universe.
A third strategic component in SSL's contribution to NASA's Space Science
Enterprise comes not from the study of the electromagnetic spectrum, but
from the study of extremely high-energy particles from space called cosmic
rays. Cosmic rays are atomic nuclei, atoms with all the electrons stripped
off, traveling at velocities near the speed of light. They pervade all of
space, and their origins are still a mystery. Studying cosmic rays helps
SSL scientists explore questions regarding the origin of heavy elements
in the universe, the nature and origin of magnetic fields in space, and
the nature of the big-bang itself.
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Author: John Horack
Curator: Bryan Walls
NASA Official: Frank Six
last update: June 16, 1997