GBM Home Page GBM Archived News Items


May 2008

  GLAST being wrapped in its fairing in the mobile tower of launch pad 17B GLAST has left Astrotech and is being prepared for a June 5 2008 launch.

Februrary 2008

In December 2007 the GLAST Observatory was shipped to Naval Research Lab (NRL) for Thermal Vacuum testing. This testing was completed in Febrary 2008. The Observatory has now been shipped to Florida and resides at the Astrotech facility where it is undergoing final calibrations and testing.

October 2007

Vibration and Acoustics Testing took place at General Dynamics.

July 2007

Following successful completion of the Comprehensive Performance Test (CPT), observatory-level environmental testing of GLAST began at General Dynamics. Electromagnetic Interference/Compatibility (EMI/EMC) scans required the spacecraft be moved to a special chamber beginning June 2007. EMI/EMC scans are now complete and the spacecraft has been returned to the High Bay.

 

March 2007

The first Observatory Level testing was performed in the High Bay of the Factory of the Future at General Dynamics.

 

February 2007

The First International GLAST Symposium took place at Stanford University on 5-8 February 2007. The website has instructions for authors and other information regarding the meeting.

 

January 2007

The GBM is now mechanically and electrically integrated with the spacecraft. It performed successfully during its functional testing.

 

December 2006

The LAT has now been mechanically integrated with the spacecraft.

 

October 2006

GBM is currently being integrated with the spacecraft.

 

August 8th, 2006

GBM bench testing at SpectrumAstro is complete and GBM is ready for integration with the spacecraft. During lulls in testing, GBM team members relax by flying in small planes ( Michael with SpectrumAstro engineer Tim Morse, Valerie).

 

July 24th, 2006

GBM was packed and shipped from the NSSTC to General Dynamics SpectrumAstro in Gilbert, AZ. As promised, Chip kisses the wheel to bid the truck on its way. A press release by MSFC covers the story.

 

June 28, 2006

Chip, Steve and Fred contemplating the newly arrived NaI detector Fred and Andreas in the lab
On June 28 2006, the GBM team lost a most valued member and friend. Fred Berry, our lead systems engineer, died unexpectedly after a short illness. Fred was involved in the design and construction of GBM from its inception, and contributed to every aspect of its development. He had a working and personal relationship with many team members going back to the development of the BATSE experiment in the 1980's, and is greatly missed by all of us.

 

May, 2006

GBM went through thermal vacuum testing in the Environmental Test Facility at Marshall Space Flight Center.

 

April, 2006

GBM underwent electromagnetic interference (EMI) testing at Marshall Space Flight Center.

 

December, 2005

Past, present and future GRB Experiment Principal Investigators at recent GRB conference GRB Symposium Gamma-Ray Bursts in the Swift Era (College Park, MD).

 

October, 2005

All flight detectors and electronics integrated at NSSTC:

System Integration on test bench in lab at NSSTC.

 

September, 2005

Flight Detectors and DPU shipped to NSSTC:

First Integration on test bench in lab at NSSTC.

 

June, 2005

Engineering Quality Model Detectors shipped to NSSTC:

BGO Detector on test bench in lab at NSSTC.

NaI Detector on test bench.

Closeup of NaI detector.

 

April, 2005

Engineering Quality Model Detectors at Max Planck Institute:

Gluing thermostat on EQM.

NaI and BGO Detectors in thermal vacuum chamber

Flight Module Detectors at Max Planck Institute:

Gluing heater on Flight Module.

Assembly of NaI detector.

Flight module photomultiplier tubes.

 

March, 2005

GBM Instrument to Spacecraft Interface Simulator integration test successfully held at SpectrumAstro site in Arizona.

When it's over, Bill and Bob sample local cuisine.

 

 

September, 2003

Engineering Data Processing Unit (DPU) shipped to NSSTC from Southwest Research Institute.

 

12-13 September, 2002

A meeting of the GLAST Science Working Group was hosted by the GBM team at the National Space Science and Technology Center (NSSTC). The first day was a mini-symposium on GRB science.

 

August, 2002

Sodium Iodide detector shipped to NSSTC from Jena Optronik.

 

4-5 July, 2002

The American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO) held its 91st Spring meeting and 2nd High Energy Astrophysics workshop in Hawaii. The High-Energy Workshop was sponsored in part by GBM.

 

2 January, 2002

Jena Optronik was awarded the contract for phase B development of the GBM detectors and power supplies.

 

27 September, 2001

A contract was awarded to Southwest Research Institute of Austin, Texas to build the GBM Data Processing Unit.

 

31 July, 2001

GBM Quarterly Review presentation to GLAST Project Manager at GSFC by Chip Meegan and Steve Elrod.

 

30 May, 2001

GBM Preprints Available
Preprints of GBM papers from recent conferences are now available.

 

18 April, 2000

GBM Proposal Volume I (Science Investigation and Technical Description) available.

 

14 March, 2000

GBM selected as the secondary instrument for GLAST.
Read the NASA Press Release


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Modification date: 12 Mar, 2009

Author Valerie Connaughton
Responsible Manager Jerry Fishman
Site Curator Valerie Connaughton