Swift Satellite To Catch Mysterious Bursts From Deep In The Cosmos

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An artist's impression of the Swift spacecraft with a gamma-ray burst going off in the background. Credit: Spectrum Astro.
The NASA Swift satellite, which will pinpoint the location of distant yet fleeting explosions that appear to signal the births of black holes, is due to arrive at the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida today in preparation for an October launch. UK scientists, from the University of Leicester and University College London’s Mullard Space Science Laboratory, have provided key technology for two of the instruments on Swift.

Professor Alan Wells from the University of Leicester, UK Lead Investigator for the X-ray Telescope onboard Swift, is eagerly awaiting the launch and the start of the mission to track these enigmatic flashes called gamma-ray bursts.


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