Swift gamma-ray burst explorer: mission design for rapid, accurate location of gamma-ray bursts

Author

Bundas, David J.

Author_Institution

Space Missions Branch, NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA

fYear

2005

fDate

5-12 March 2005

Firstpage

202

Lastpage

208

Abstract

The Swift gamma-ray burst explorer is a NASA mid-sized explorer (MIDEX) with the primary mission of determining the origins of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). It is the first mission to autonomously respond to newly-discovered GRBs and provide immediate follow-up with narrow field instruments capable of multiwavelength (UV, optical, X-ray) observations. The characteristics of GRBs that are the key mission design drivers, are their nonrepeating and brief duration bursts of multiwavelength photons. In addition, rapid notification of the location and characteristics of the GRBs to ground-and-space-based observatories drive the end-to-end data analysis and distribution requirements.

Keywords

aerospace instrumentation; astronomical techniques; data analysis; gamma-ray bursts; ground support systems; photons; GRB; MIDEX; NASA mid-sized explorer; Swift gamma-ray burst explorer; end-to-end data analysis; ground-and-space-based observatory; mission design drivers; multiwavelength observations; multiwavelength photons; Biomedical optical imaging; Data analysis; Gamma ray bursts; Instruments; NASA; Observatories; Optical design; Payloads; Space missions; Space vehicles;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Aerospace Conference, 2005 IEEE

Conference_Location

Big Sky, MT

Print_ISBN

0-7803-8870-4

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/AERO.2005.1559313

Filename

1559313