NASA Establishes New Office to Study Cosmic Phenomena

June 26, 2007

Dwayne Brown
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1726

RELEASE: 07-143

NASA ESTABLISHES NEW OFFICE TO STUDY COSMIC PHENOMENA

WASHINGTON -- NASA has created a new office to study in more detail
some of the universe's most exotic phenomena: dark energy, black
holes and cosmic microwave background radiation.

The new Einstein Probes Office will facilitate NASA's future
medium-class science missions to investigate these profound cosmic
mysteries. The office will be housed in the Beyond Einstein Program
Office at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.

The Beyond Einstein Program consists of five proposed missions: two
major observatories and three smaller probes. Technology development
already is under way on the proposed observatories. The Laser
Interferometer Space Antenna would orbit the sun measuring
gravitational waves in our galaxy and beyond. Constellation-X would
view matter falling into supermassive black holes.

The proposed probes would investigate the nature of dark energy, the
physics of the Big Bang and the distribution and types of black holes
in the universe. NASA previously has supported initial mission
concept studies for the Dark Energy, Inflation, and Black Hole Finder
probes. The agency currently is funding three other, more detailed,
dark energy mission concept studies.

NASA and the U.S. Department of Energy have commissioned a National
Research Council committee to assess which of the Beyond Einstein
missions should be developed and launched first. The assessment will
be based on scientific impact, technology readiness and budgetary
considerations. The committee's recommendations are due to be
released in September 2007.

"We look forward to receiving the recommendations of the committee,"
said Jon Morse, director of the Astrophysics Division in NASA's
Science Mission Directorate, Washington. "Adding this new office to
the existing logistical support for the Beyond Einstein Program will
help us react swiftly to the committee's assessment."

The Beyond Einstein Program is designed to provide key information to
help answer fundamental questions about the origin and evolution of
the universe. The Beyond Einstein spacecraft will build on such
current NASA missions as the Hubble Space Telescope, Chandra X-ray
Observatory and Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe.

For more information about NASA and agency programs, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov


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