Career Field – Astronomy/Physics

The Gamma-ray Large Space Telescope (GLAST) is going to be launched by the NASA in May.
 
Build your very own model of GLAST, and learn about the huge black holes and exploding stars that this satellite is going to study.

Leader – Lynn Cominsky

Lynn Cominsky is professor and chairperson for Physics and Astronomy at Sonoma State University where she is program director for the NASA Education and Public Outreach (E/PO) group. The E/PO group supports NASA projects including the GLAST (Gamma-Ray Large Area Space Telescope, scheduled for launch on May 16, 2008), the Swift Gamma-Ray Burst Mission (launched in 2004), and the XMM-Newton Mission (launched in 1999). These earth-orbiting satellites all study high-energy radiation (x-rays and gamma rays) that is coming from exotic and extreme objects in the cosmos such as exploding stars, blazing galaxies and super-massive black holes. For more about the NASA E/PO group at Sonoma State University and to learn more about our projects, see http://epo.sonoma.edu.

Co-Leader – Laura Chase

Laura, project support assistant, came to the NASA group with over a half a decade of administrative support experience. With her real curiosity for space science she is sure to be a hit with the group. She reminds herself that experience and knowledge does not have to come from work; as wife and mother of a beautiful daughter, Lucille; organization and multitasking are just a few of her strong points. Homegrown in Sonoma County, she enjoys gardening, music, cooking, knitting, dancing, and her two cats Pumpkin and PI - but spending time with her family is most important to her.