But measurements of the primeval deuterium abundance carried out by University of Chicago Research Associate Scott Burles with the Keck telescope in Hawaii indicate a single value. Schramm's last paper, co-authored by Turner, pointed out that the calculations leading to this conclusion could be checked by measurements of the cosmic microwave background, the big bang's afterglow. Turner said he and his team eagerly await the DASI results. FUSE, meanwhile, will be able to check Burles' deuterium measurements in nearly pristine but closer gas clouds, Turner said. In addition, by measuring the galactic deuterium abundance, FUSE will be able to reconstruct how stars process the primordial gas to make the other elements.
Stars only destroy deuterium.
Thus, less deuterium indicates more stellar processing. A Lockheed Martin Athena 1 will launch the Kodiak Star mission for NASA and the Air Force no sooner than Saturday from Kodiak Island, Alaska. Visit the Tracking Station for a full listing of upcoming launches.