Last night, an informal rocket-launching party was held on the beach, with ten toy rockets launched using a variety of propellants. An international team of judges including LAT Principle Investigator Peter Michelson awarded prizes to all with special mentions for style. The picture above shows the launch teams and judges. (Click on image for larger version.)

From the Director:
Waiting for Launch

by Persis Drell

Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope (GLAST) Observatory is mated to the launch vehicle and is ready to go. It has passed all stages of testing designed to ensure that it can withstand the rigors of launch and operate in the space environment. Both instruments, the Large Area Telescope (LAT) and the Burst Monitor, are beautiful.

A few weeks ago, the launch date of June 3 was announced and a LAT collaboration meeting was scheduled, bringing many of the collaborators from around the world who have worked on GLAST, some for over a decade, to Florida's Cape Canaveral this week. By the time most people had arrived, the launch date had slipped to June 5, as the Flight Readiness Review identified some additional issues with the launch vehicle that needed to be closed out before launch. Thanks to the hard work of everyone involved with the launch vehicle, good progress was made on all the issues, but the launch then slipped to June 6 and then June 7 to give the engineers enough time to complete their work. On Wednesday, an additional issue was identified with a battery on the launch vehicle that has given the mission a launch date of NET (No Earlier Than) June 11. Launch campaigns can be like this, we're told. Read more...

Increase in Car Burglaries Seen on
Main Stanford Campus

from the Stanford Department of Public Safety

The number of auto burglaries on Stanford's main campus has increased significantly over the past few months. This rash of burglaries usually involves a quick smash of a window to grab a bag or device visible in the car. The Stanford Department of Public Safety strongly urges the community to remove from view all briefcases, computer cases, tote bags, gym bags and all electronic accessories. Also, please remove any mounting devices for electronic equipment or accessories from the vehicle or conceal them so they are not visible to anyone looking into the vehicle. A mounting device left in view may be an indicator to the thief that its associated electronic device may still be in the vehicle (for example, in the glove compartment).

Report any suspicious persons in or about the area of parked vehicles by dialing 911 from a cell phone or by dialing 9-911 from a SLAC or campus phone line.

Word of the Week:
Refraction

by Brad Plummer

Similar to last Friday's Word of the Week, the phenomenon of "refraction" pertains to the motion of waves—from sound waves to ripples on a pond to even light waves. Refraction is a change in the direction of a wave due to a change in speed. Light waves change speed and direction when they strike water droplets suspended in the atmosphere; the familiar sight of a rainbow occurs in part because different colors of light change speed, and therefore direction, at different rates, and are separated apart as in a prism.

Building the LCLS: Weekly Update

by Brad Plummer

Construction highlights from the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) this week include:

- Installation of light fixtures and electrical outlets in the Central Utilities Plant.

- Excavation and installation of rebar for footing at the north end of the Central Utilities Plant.

- Preparations to pour the final floor in the Access Tunnel.

Events

June 9: (4:15 p.m.) Colloquium: Energy Sinks and Other Career Barriers for Women

Access (see all)

Announcements
(see all | submit)

Lab Announcements

Community Bulletin Board

News (submit)

Iran Makes the Sciences A Part of Its Revolution Washington Post
Physicists to Target Neutrinos Nature
Red Light Cameras Go Live June 10 in Menlo Park The Almanac

<% Response.AddHeader "Last-modified", getArticleDate() 'Response.AddHeader "Last-modified","Mon, 01 Sep 1997 01:03:33 GMT" 'Monday, December 06, 2010 %>

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

Last night, an informal rocket-launching party was held on the beach, with ten toy rockets launched using a variety of propellants. An international team of judges including LAT Principle Investigator Peter Michelson awarded prizes to all with special mentions for style. The picture above shows the launch teams and judges. (Click on image for larger version.) From the Director: Waiting for Launch by Persis Drell Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope (GLAST) Observatory is mated to the launch vehicle and is ready to go. It has passed all stages of testing designed to ensure that it can withstand the rigors of launch and operate in the space environment. Both instruments, the Large Area Telescope (LAT) and the Burst Monitor, are beautiful. A few weeks ago, the launch date of June 3 was announced and a LAT collaboration meeting was scheduled, bringing many of the collaborators from around the world who have worked on GLAST, some for over a decade, to Florida's Cape Canaveral this week. By the time most people had arrived, the launch date had slipped to June 5, as the Flight Readiness Review identified some additional issues with the launch vehicle that needed to be closed out before launch. Thanks to the hard work of everyone involved with the launch vehicle, good progress was made on all the issues, but the launch then slipped to June 6 and then June 7 to give the engineers enough time to complete their work. On Wednesday, an additional issue was identified with a battery on the launch vehicle that has given the mission a launch date of NET (No Earlier Than) June 11. Launch campaigns can be like this, we're told. Read more...

Increase in Car Burglaries Seen on Main Stanford Campus from the Stanford Department of Public Safety The number of auto burglaries on Stanford's main campus has increased significantly over the past few months. This rash of burglaries usually involves a quick smash of a window to grab a bag or device visible in the car. The Stanford Department of Public Safety strongly urges the community to remove from view all briefcases, computer cases, tote bags, gym bags and all electronic accessories. Also, please remove any mounting devices for electronic equipment or accessories from the vehicle or conceal them so they are not visible to anyone looking into the vehicle. A mounting device left in view may be an indicator to the thief that its associated electronic device may still be in the vehicle (for example, in the glove compartment). Report any suspicious persons in or about the area of parked vehicles by dialing 911 from a cell phone or by dialing 9-911 from a SLAC or campus phone line.	Word of the Week: Refraction by Brad Plummer Similar to last Friday's Word of the Week, the phenomenon of "refraction" pertains to the motion of waves—from sound waves to ripples on a pond to even light waves. Refraction is a change in the direction of a wave due to a change in speed. Light waves change speed and direction when they strike water droplets suspended in the atmosphere; the familiar sight of a rainbow occurs in part because different colors of light change speed, and therefore direction, at different rates, and are separated apart as in a prism. Building the LCLS: Weekly Update by Brad Plummer Construction highlights from the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) this week include: - Installation of light fixtures and electrical outlets in the Central Utilities Plant. - Excavation and installation of rebar for footing at the north end of the Central Utilities Plant. - Preparations to pour the final floor in the Access Tunnel.	Events June 9: (4:15 p.m.) Colloquium: Energy Sinks and Other Career Barriers for Women Access (see all) Loop Road Traffic Restrictions/Closures; B040 Parking Lot Closure Partial close of south side of Loop Road between South Target Road to Bldg 033 Alpine Gate & PEP Ring Road closed Gates 17 & 30 open 24-7 Research Yard bisected Announcements (see all \| submit) Lab Announcements Let's Celebrate Jonathan Juneteenth 2008 Community Bulletin Board SLAC Blood Drive - June 11 Tech Briefing - June 6: Using Windows' Encrypting File System News (submit) Iran Makes the Sciences A Part of Its Revolution Washington Post Physicists to Target Neutrinos Nature Red Light Cameras Go Live June 10 in Menlo Park The Almanac
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<% Response.AddHeader "Last-modified", getArticleDate() 'Response.AddHeader "Last-modified","Mon, 01 Sep 1997 01:03:33 GMT" 'Monday, December 06, 2010 %> View online at http://today.slac.stanford.edu/.

From the Director:Waiting for Launch

Increase in Car Burglaries Seen onMain Stanford Campus

Word of the Week:Refraction