Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope: Mission overview

The new Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope (GLAST) is scheduled for launch in the middle of 2008. It contains the high energy gamma-ray telescope Large Area Telescope (LAT) which covers the energy range from 20 MeV to >300 GeV and the GLAST Burst Monitor (GMB), covering 8 keV–30 MeV energy range. The GLAST science objectives include understanding the mechanism of charged particle acceleration in active galactic nuclei, pulsars and supernova remnants, determining the nature of the still-unidentified EGRET sources, detailed study of gamma-ray diffuse emission, high-energy emission from gamma-ray bursts and transient sources, and probing dark matter. A brief overview of the mission is given.