Scope and senator ready for orbit

The space shuttle Discovery that launches John Glenn into orbit this fall will carry a new telescope designed and built by University of Arizona scientists.

Both will make history.

The 77-year-old Ohio senator will become the oldest space traveler, while the Star-Lite imaging spectrometer will become the first telescope of its kind to be used in space.

The $675,000 telescope was conceived by UA planetary scientists Jay Holberg and A. Lyle Broadfoot.

Martin Valente of UA Optical Sciences Center, who is designing and building the telescope, said it will be finished later this summer.

According to Valente, its mirrors will be made of aluminum and silicon carbide instead of glass, making the Star-Lite more rugged than typical telescopes. Therefore, it should require less reinforcing, saving weight and money, he said.