SANTA CRUZ, Calif. -- A telescope designed by a University of California at Santa Cruz team is scheduled to be launched into space later this week to study black holes and colliding stars.

The newest space observatory will be shuttled into space onboard a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket.

The Gamma Ray Large Area Space Telescope, or GLAST, is designed to study gamma ray bursts from stars collapsing as they turn into black holes.

"I'm very excited after so many years to finally see data," said U.C.S.C. physicist Robert Johnson. "I'm nervous about putting it on top of the rocket and looking forward to a successful launch."

Johnson is a member of the U.C.S.C. team responsible for creating the GLAST.

The 3-ton particle detector and tracker can observe one-fifth of the sky at any given moment and can cover the entire sky every three hours when in orbit.

More than 70 square meters of silicon strip detectors make up the GLAST.

"It detects gamma rays rather than light," Johnson said. "The gamma rays don't penetrate the atmosphere, that's why it has to go to space. It's looking at very energetic objects in space, objects that sometimes appear in visible light, but often output most of the energy at higher levels."

Gamma ray bursts won't be the only phenomena the GLAST tracks. It may also play a role in figuring out the nature of the mysterious dark matter that physicists say make up 22 percent of the universe.

"The dark matter is definitely out there," Johnson said. "We see the gravitational effects, but it's never been seen in any other way. It's a mystery as to what it's made of."

The GLAST has the potential for new discoveries and could generate new questions about the universe.

NASA has set June 7 as the new target launch date for the GLAST from Cape Canaveral Air Force Base, Fla.