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Office of Public Information
Eberly College of Science
Pennsylvania State University
University Park, Pennsylvania

Contact:
John Nousek: (+1) 814-865-7747, jnousek{at}astro.psu.edu
Neil Gehrels: (+1) 301-526-9288, gehrels{at}lheavx.gsfc.nasa.gov
Barbara K. Kennedy (PIO): (+1) 814-863-4682, science{at}psu.edu

30 June 2003

Gamma-Ray-Burst Catcher Readies for Launch

Penn State is nearing completion of its first mission-control
operations facility in preparation for the December 2003 launch of
the Swift observatory, NASA's newest astronomy satellite. This
NASA-led mission will "swiftly" locate gamma-ray bursts, fast-fading
explosions that temporarily outshine the entire universe in gamma-ray
light. 

The Swift team will monitor and command the satellite from a new
high-tech facility across the road from a pumpkin patch in central
Pennsylvania, and will harvest Swift's gamma-ray data so it can be
distributed to other scientists worldwide.

"Gamma-ray bursts are mysterious explosions likely associated with
the creation of a black hole," explains John Nousek of Penn State,
the astronomer in charge of the Penn State Swift program, who will
become Mission Director when the Penn State Operations Center takes
control of the satellite after Swift is launched. 

Gamma-ray bursts are the brightest explosions seen in the universe,
second only to the big bang. They shine with the energy of up to a
trillion suns. Occurring at least once a day somewhere in the
universe, these bursts appear randomly from all directions and last
only a few milliseconds to about a minute. "It's amazing to think
that the light from a gamma-ray burst has traveled for untold
billions of years across the universe, and the mystery of its origin
may be solved down here in rural Pennsylvania," Nousek says.

The bursts have been difficult to study because they fade so quickly,
never to return to the same spot. Many scientists say that gamma-ray
bursts form from the explosion of massive stars or from the mergers
of black holes or neutron stars. In either scenario, a new black hole
is likely formed in its wake. 

The Swift satellite, a NASA-led mid-size explorer (MIDEX) mission,
will detect bursts and will relay their precise location
automatically and within seconds after they occur to scores of other
observatories, both on the ground and in orbit. Swift also will turn
swiftly -- in less than a minute -- to observe the bursts with its
own set of telescopes. 

The Swift satellite has three main instruments currently at NASA
Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, undergoing
assembly and final testing in preparation for the launch. The Burst
Alert Telescope (BAT) was built by Goddard and Los Alamos National
Laboratory. Penn State built the Ultraviolet-Optical Telescope (UVOT)
in collaboration with Mullard Space Sciences Laboratory in England.
Penn State also built the X-ray Telescope (XRT) in collaboration with
the University of Leicester in England and the Astronomical
Observatory of Brera in Italy.

The Penn State Mission Operations Center will be responsible for
operating the satellite and for maintaining its safety and the
integrity of its instruments. Within 15 seconds of detecting a
gamma-ray burst with the BAT instrument, Swift will begin to turn
automatically to view the burst and its afterglow with its UVOT and
XRT instruments. The scientists at the Penn State Mission Operations
Center will be the first to examine the incoming data as it arrives
from the Swift observatory. "We will be responsible for determining
if Swift is operating in the right way and for assuring that it does
the right things at the right times," Nousek says.

The bulk of the data from Swift will go from the Penn State Mission
Operations Center to the Science Data Center at NASA's Goddard Space
Flight Center, where computers will perform a standardized and
automated analysis to prepare the data for use by astronomers
worldwide. Data from Swift also will be received by NASA's Gamma-ray
Burst Coordinates Network, which will distribute brief 'Burst Alert'
messages to scientists and robotic telescopes worldwide so their
research efforts can be combined with those of the Swift team. "This
is a global effort, and Penn State will be the hub for unraveling the
gamma-ray burst mystery," said Swift Principal Investigator Neil
Gehrels of NASA Goddard. 

Other members of the Swift collaboration include the Italian Space
Agency, which will provide ground-station support; Sonoma State
University, which will provide education and public outreach; and the
University of California at Berkeley. Affiliated Institutions for
post-launch activities include the Max Planck Institute for
Extraterrestrial Physics in Germany and the Institute for Space and
Astronautical Sciences in Japan.

Information about the Swift mission is available at
      http://swift.gsfc.nasa.gov/
Information about Swift educational outreach activities is available
at
      http://swift.sonoma.edu

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