TRW Wins Contract to Study Spacecraft Designs for NASA's Gamma Ray Large Area Space Telescope Mission.Business EditorsREDONDO BEACH, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 19, 2000 TRW (NYSE NYSE See: New York Stock Exchange :TRW) has been awarded a three-month study contract by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center The Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) is a major NASA space research laboratory established on May 1, 1959 as NASA's first space flight center. GSFC employs approximately 10,000 civil servants and contractors, and is located approximately 6.5 miles northeast of Washington, D.C. (GSFC GSFC Goddard Space Flight Center (NASA; Greenbelt, MD, USA) GSFC Gujarat State Financial Corporation GSFC Gujarat State Fertilizers Company GSFC George Strait Fan Club GSFC Gujarat State Fertilisers Corporation ), Greenbelt, Md., to determine how best to accommodate the science payload for NASA's Gamma Ray Large Area Space Telescope (GLAST GLAST Gamma Ray Large Area Space Telescope ) mission using a spacecraft from GSFC's Rapid II Catalog of spacecraft. GLAST is the follow-on mission to the TRW-built Compton Gamma Ray Observatory Compton Gamma Ray Observatory Space observatory in service from 1991 to 2000 that was designed to identify the sources of celestial gamma rays. It was named after physicist Arthur Holly Compton. (CGRO) mission. Scheduled for launch in 2005, GLAST will explore the most energetic and violent events in the universe. Its 3,000-kilogram science payload, which comprises the GLAST Large Area Telescope Flight Investigation and the Gamma-Ray Burst Monitor, will study stellar phenomena such as gamma ray bursts, neutron stars, supernova remnants and distant galaxies fueled by super massive black holes at their centers. GLAST's primary instrument is expected to be about 30 times more sensitive to gamma ray sources than the Energetic Gamma Ray Experiment Telescope The Energetic Gamma Ray Experiment Telescope (EGRET) was one of the four scientific instruments on NASA's Compton Gamma Ray Observatory satellite. It detected individual gamma rays with energy from 30 MeV to 30 GeV. (EGRET) used aboard CGRO. "This contract builds on the solid foundation of experience that TRW acquired as the system prime contractor and spacecraft producer for NASA's highly successful Compton Gamma Ray Observatory mission," said Fred Ricker, vice president and general manager, TRW Space & Laser Programs Division. "We're looking forward to continuing the strong partnership that enabled CGRO to be one of the most scientifically productive missions of the 1990s." Under terms of the new contract, TRW will determine the most cost-effective way to meet the GLAST mission requirements based on TRW's existing, qualified spacecraft products in NASA's Rapid II catalog. NASA's Rapid II spacecraft catalog is a procurement practice designed to enable rapid development and production of spacecraft using standardized spacecraft products. Following the initial GLAST study and some more detailed studies in the near future, NASA will select a contractor to build the GLAST spacecraft and integrate the payload with the spacecraft. NASA's current plan calls for the selection of a GLAST system prime contractor in 2002. TRW has been developing satellite systems for NASA's most challenging scientific, communications and environmental satellite systems for NASA since 1958. In addition to its work on GLAST, the company is currently producing two spacecraft for the GSFC-led Earth Observing System The Earth Observing System (EOS) is a program of NASA comprising a series of artificial satellite missions and scientific instruments in Earth orbit designed for long-term global observations of the land surface, biosphere, atmosphere, and oceans of the Earth. , developing a design concept for the Next Generation Space Telescope, and developing architectural concepts and technology requirements for the space agency's Terrestrial Planet Finder The Terrestrial Planet Finder (TPF) is a plan by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration of the United States for a telescope system that will be capable of detecting extrasolar terrestrial planets. mission. TRW is also the spacecraft industry partner on NASA's Space Interferometry Mission This article or section documents a scheduled or expected spaceflight. Details may change as the launch date approaches or more information becomes available. . Based in Cleveland, Ohio, TRW provides advanced technology products and services for automotive, space and defense, and information technology markets worldwide. TRW news releases are available on the corporate Web site: www.trw.com. |
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