Oct 17 2002
From The Space Library
ESA launched the International Gamma Ray Astrophysics Laboratory (INTEGRAL) observatory from Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, at 10:4 1 a.m., local time~ 12:41 a.m. (EST). ESA had designed the satellite, and Italy's Alenia Spazio had developed it, with support from more than 30 European firms. INTEGRAL would study dense objects that are sources of high-energy radiation, such as neutron stars and black holes. Project scientists hoped that INTEGRAL would produce images that would help confirm the presence of black holes at the center of galaxies, beginning with the Milky Way. INTEGRAL had two main instruments for analyzing gamma-ray sources: the Spectrometer on INTEGRAL, or SPI spectrometer, and the Imager on Board the INTEGRAL Satellite, or IBIS imager. The spectrometer and imager had an extremely sharp angular resolution, enabling them to conduct spectral analyses with an energy resolution 40 times better than that provided by any previous satellite. INTEGRAL also carried an x-ray imager and a charged-coupled device (CCD) imager that operated within the visible spectrum waveband. Using the combined data from the four instruments, project scientists would be able to make simultaneous observations of high-energy phenomena, from visible light to gamma rays. (ESA, “Europe Opens a Window onto a Violent Universe,” ESA news release 66-2002, 17 October 2002, http://www.esa.int/esaCP/ESAKXQTHN6D_index.0.html (accessed 2 February 2010).)
NASA appointed Michael U. Rudolphi as Deputy Director for NASA's SSC. NASA administrators stated that the selection was part of the “One NASA” initiative of enhancing partnerships among NASA's various centers. Rudolphi would assume the post after the launch of Space Shuttle Endeavour on STS-113, scheduled for liftoff in November 2002. Since January 2000, Rudolphi had managed the Reusable Solid Rocket Motor Project at NASA's MSFC. He had begun his career with NASA in 1998 as Facility Manager for MSFC's Advanced Solid Rocket Motor Project. Before joining NASA, Rudolphi had been a manager of the contractor plant for the Solid Rocket Booster Project at NASA's KSC. (NASA, “NASA Announces New Stennis Space Center Deputy Director,” news release 02-201, 17 October 2002.)
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