By Paul Rincon
Science reporter, BBC News, Seattle
A pioneering US space agency spacecraft is set to launch on a mission to explore the most energetic phenomena in the Universe.
The Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope (Glast) has been described as an "extreme physics" laboratory.
The probe is due to launch from Florida's Cape Canaveral base in November on a Boeing Delta II rocket.
The team presented details of the mission at the meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Seattle.
As its name suggests, Glast will detect the emissions of gamma rays in space. Gamma rays are the most energetic form of radiation known to science.
Examples of energetic phenomena to be probed by Glast include active galaxies, which spew massive amounts of energy from their centres.
This explosive outpouring is thought to be powered by supermassive black holes.
Other targets for Glast include pulsars - rotating neutron stars which emit radio waves - as well as the remnants of exploded stars, and galaxy clusters.
Full story.
