Postcard from the LAT

by Jennifer Yauck

By the time the Large Area Telescope (LAT) begins orbiting the earth next fall, it will already be a seasoned traveler. Between its birth at SLAC and its launch into space from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the instrument will have logged thousands of land miles, crossing the country three times as scientists and engineers prepare it for its mission.

The LAT has already finished two legs of that land journey, and is currently residing in a clean room facility at General Dynamics in Gilbert, Arizona, where the Gamma Ray Large Area Space Telescope (GLAST) observatory is being assembled. The LAT is the primary component of GLAST, an observatory that will detect gamma rays in space. GLAST's mission is to probe the nature of dark matter, the collapse of massive stars, and radiation from massive black holes. Read more...

SSRL Resumes Operations

Today marks the return to operations for the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory (SSRL) as SPEAR3 begins accepting users for the 2007 experimental run. This year's run promises to be as exciting as ever, with a series of upgrades installed over the last 2 months which are designed to bring us closer to continuous operation of SPEAR3 at its full design current of 500 mA.

More than 2,000 scientists from around the globe are involved in research at SPEAR3. Their research encompasses a broad spectrum of topics in the physical and life sciences, with physics, chemistry, biology, environmental and medical science as main areas of focus. This research is carried out using SPEAR3's eleven x-ray beamlines. Each beamline can provide x-rays to about three stations (hutches), where the researchers place their specially-prepared material samples to analyze their structure. The highly talented SSRL staff help the researchers configure the beamline station that is best matched to the type of x-ray analysis needed for their experiment, and provide scientific and technical support. This year, about one thousand distinct experiments will be conducted at SPEAR3, which amounts to about five experimental start-ups per day. Read more...

Change a Light Campaign Ends Tomorrow

There are just two days left in the Change a Light campaign. To date, the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science has achieved 90% of its total goal of 2,744 pledges. But we're not there yet! Visit the Change a Light website and pledge to exchange your incandescent bulbs for compact fluorescent bulbs on behalf of the DOE Office of Science.

NOVA to Feature GLAST

by Kelen Tuttle

The Public Broadcasting Station (PBS) will show NOVA's "Monster of the Milky Way" tomorrow evening at 8 p.m. The show focuses on the black hole at the center of our Galaxy and features interviews with SLAC researchers working on the Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope (GLAST) project. More information is available at the NOVA website.

Safety Firsts

by John Cornuelle

Commercial airline pilots have to adhere to "sterile cockpit" rules to prevent accidents. It seems unlikely that this term refers to liberal disinfectant usage. Do you know what it means?

Events (see all | submit)

October 30: (4:15 p.m.) Colloquium: Physicists on Wall Street
October 31: (12:30 p.m.) Experimental Seminar: The LSST and Experimental Cosmology at SLAC/KIPAC
October 31: (4:15 p.m.) Applied Physics/Physics Colloquium (Main Campus): Exploring and Manipulating Fullerenes...

Access (see all)

Announcements
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Lab Announcements

Community Bulletin Board

News(see all | submit)

World's First Single Crystal Positron Source is Successfully Operated at the KEK B-Factory Interactions.org
Bubbling Up Economist

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View online at http://today.slac.stanford.edu//.

Postcard from the LAT by Jennifer Yauck By the time the Large Area Telescope (LAT) begins orbiting the earth next fall, it will already be a seasoned traveler. Between its birth at SLAC and its launch into space from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the instrument will have logged thousands of land miles, crossing the country three times as scientists and engineers prepare it for its mission. The LAT has already finished two legs of that land journey, and is currently residing in a clean room facility at General Dynamics in Gilbert, Arizona, where the Gamma Ray Large Area Space Telescope (GLAST) observatory is being assembled. The LAT is the primary component of GLAST, an observatory that will detect gamma rays in space. GLAST's mission is to probe the nature of dark matter, the collapse of massive stars, and radiation from massive black holes. Read more...

SSRL Resumes Operations Today marks the return to operations for the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory (SSRL) as SPEAR3 begins accepting users for the 2007 experimental run. This year's run promises to be as exciting as ever, with a series of upgrades installed over the last 2 months which are designed to bring us closer to continuous operation of SPEAR3 at its full design current of 500 mA. More than 2,000 scientists from around the globe are involved in research at SPEAR3. Their research encompasses a broad spectrum of topics in the physical and life sciences, with physics, chemistry, biology, environmental and medical science as main areas of focus. This research is carried out using SPEAR3's eleven x-ray beamlines. Each beamline can provide x-rays to about three stations (hutches), where the researchers place their specially-prepared material samples to analyze their structure. The highly talented SSRL staff help the researchers configure the beamline station that is best matched to the type of x-ray analysis needed for their experiment, and provide scientific and technical support. This year, about one thousand distinct experiments will be conducted at SPEAR3, which amounts to about five experimental start-ups per day. Read more...	Change a Light Campaign Ends Tomorrow There are just two days left in the Change a Light campaign. To date, the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science has achieved 90% of its total goal of 2,744 pledges. But we're not there yet! Visit the Change a Light website and pledge to exchange your incandescent bulbs for compact fluorescent bulbs on behalf of the DOE Office of Science. NOVA to Feature GLAST by Kelen Tuttle The Public Broadcasting Station (PBS) will show NOVA's "Monster of the Milky Way" tomorrow evening at 8 p.m. The show focuses on the black hole at the center of our Galaxy and features interviews with SLAC researchers working on the Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope (GLAST) project. More information is available at the NOVA website. Safety Firsts by John Cornuelle Commercial airline pilots have to adhere to "sterile cockpit" rules to prevent accidents. It seems unlikely that this term refers to liberal disinfectant usage. Do you know what it means?	Events (see all \| submit) October 30: (4:15 p.m.) Colloquium: Physicists on Wall Street October 31: (12:30 p.m.) Experimental Seminar: The LSST and Experimental Cosmology at SLAC/KIPAC October 31: (4:15 p.m.) Applied Physics/Physics Colloquium (Main Campus): Exploring and Manipulating Fullerenes... Access (see all) Power Outages in Research Yard Building 40 Construction Sector 10 Alignment Vault Access Road / North Gallery Utility Roads Bldg 084 GLAST ISOC Facility Construction Bldg 084 Parking Spaces Closure Alpine Gate & PEP Ring Road Closed Gates 17 & 30 Open 24-7 Research Yard Bisected Announcements (see all \| submit) Lab Announcements Campus Staff Courses for November LCLS Animation Available for Download Register for the GLAST International Science Symposium Community Bulletin Board 35th Annual SLAC Run & Walk Flu Shot Availability News(see all \| submit) World's First Single Crystal Positron Source is Successfully Operated at the KEK B-Factory Interactions.org Bubbling Up Economist
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