Space Science - Decisions, Decisions.

http://www.mpe.mpg.de/projects.html

The students on the Design in Gamma-Ray Astronomy course from the University of Southampton at the University of Tenerife, La Laguna have a number of decisions to make in order to design a space-based gamma-ray telescope.

The Astronomers, Engineers and Space Scientists need to decide on which materials to use in their telescope to detect gamma-rays; how to protect -or shield- their equipment from solar flares and cosmic rays; in what orbit to place their telescope, (working out the height and the 'eccentricity' - how eliptically the orbit is set up) and lastly, they have to determine the weight of all their proposed equipment - called a mass budget - to determine whether their rocket - launched from florida - can carry it all.
http://www.onet2.pl/dvbs.html