{"id":10502,"date":"2024-03-22T00:01:47","date_gmt":"2024-03-22T04:01:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/zobi.alcowep.com\/bourtagshdrevxnls658739\/nasas-tiny-burstcube-mission-launches-to-study-cosmic-blasts\/"},"modified":"2024-03-22T00:01:47","modified_gmt":"2024-03-22T04:01:47","slug":"nasas-tiny-burstcube-mission-launches-to-study-cosmic-blasts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zobi.alcowep.com\/bourtagshdrevxnls658739\/nasas-tiny-burstcube-mission-launches-to-study-cosmic-blasts\/","title":{"rendered":"NASA\u2019s Tiny BurstCube Mission Launches to Study Cosmic Blasts"},"content":{"rendered":"

NASA\u2019s Tiny BurstCube Mission Launches to Study Cosmic Blasts<\/h2>\n

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4 min read<\/p>\n

NASA\u2019s Tiny BurstCube Mission Launches to Study Cosmic Blasts<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\"This<\/figure>
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BurstCube, shown in this artist\u2019s concept, will orbit Earth as it hunts for short gamma-ray bursts.<\/div>\n
NASA\u2019s Goddard Space Flight Center Conceptual Image Lab<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

NASA\u2019s BurstCube<\/a>, a shoebox-sized satellite designed to study the universe\u2019s most powerful explosions, is on its way<\/a> to the International Space Station<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The spacecraft travels aboard SpaceX\u2019s 30th Commercial Resupply Services<\/a> mission, which lifted off at 4:55 p.m. EDT on Thursday, March 21, from Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. After arriving at the station, BurstCube will be unpacked and later released into orbit, where it will detect, locate, and study short gamma-ray bursts<\/a> \u2013 brief flashes of high-energy light.<\/p>\n

\u201cBurstCube may be small, but in addition to investigating these extreme events, it\u2019s testing new technology and providing important experience for early career astronomers and aerospace engineers,\u201d said Jeremy Perkins, BurstCube\u2019s principal investigator at NASA\u2019s Goddard Space Flight Center<\/a> in Greenbelt, Maryland.<\/p>\n

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The BurstCube satellite sits in its flight configuration in this photo taken in the Goddard CubeSat Lab in 2023.<\/div>\n
NASA\/Sophia Roberts<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\n\t\tDownload high-resolution images and videos of BurstCube.<\/span>
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Short gamma-ray bursts usually occur after the collisions of neutron stars<\/a>, the superdense remnants of massive stars that exploded in supernovae. The neutron stars can also emit gravitational waves<\/a>, ripples in the fabric of space-time, as they spiral together.<\/p>\n

Astronomers are interested in studying gamma-ray bursts using both light and gravitational waves because each can teach them about different aspects of the event. This approach is part of a new way of understanding the cosmos called multimessenger astronomy<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The collisions that create short gamma-ray bursts also produce heavy elements like gold and iodine, an essential ingredient for life as we know it.<\/p>\n

Currently, the only joint observation of gravitational waves and light from the same event \u2013 called GW170817<\/a> \u2013 was in 2017. It was a watershed moment in multimessenger astronomy, and the scientific community has been hoping and preparing for additional concurrent discoveries since.<\/p>\n

\u201cBurstCube\u2019s detectors are angled to allow us to detect and localize events over a wide area of the sky,\u201d said Israel Martinez, research scientist and BurstCube team member at the University of Maryland, College Park<\/a> and Goddard. \u201cOur current gamma-ray missions can only see about 70% of the sky at any moment because Earth blocks their view. Increasing our coverage with satellites like BurstCube improves the odds we\u2019ll catch more bursts coincident with gravitational wave detections.\u201d<\/p>\n

BurstCube\u2019s main instrument detects gamma rays with energies ranging from 50,000 to 1 million electron volts. (For comparison, visible light ranges between 2 and 3 electron volts.)<\/p>\n

When a gamma ray enters one of BurstCube\u2019s four detectors, it encounters a cesium iodide layer called a scintillator, which converts it into visible light. The light then enters another layer, an array of 116 silicon photomultipliers, that converts it into a pulse of electrons, which is what BurstCube measures. For each gamma ray, the team sees one pulse in the instrument readout that provides the precise arrival time and energy. The angled detectors inform the team of the general direction of the event.<\/p>\n

BurstCube belongs to a class of spacecraft called CubeSats<\/a>. These small satellites come in a range of standard sizes based on a cube measuring 10 centimeters (3.9 inches) across. CubeSats provide cost-effective access to space to facilitate groundbreaking science, test new technologies, and help educate the next generation of scientists and engineers in mission development, construction, and testing.<\/p>\n

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\"This<\/figure>
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Engineers attach BurstCube to the platform of a thermal vacuum chamber at Goddard ahead of testing.<\/div>\n
NASA\/Sophia Roberts<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cWe were able to order many of BurstCube\u2019s parts, like solar panels and other off-the-shelf components, which are becoming standardized for CubeSats,\u201d said Julie Cox, a BurstCube mechanical engineer at Goddard. \u201cThat allowed us to focus on the mission\u2019s novel aspects, like the made-in-house components and the instrument, which will demonstrate how a new generation of miniaturized gamma-ray detectors work in space.\u201d<\/p>\n

BurstCube is led by NASA\u2019s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. It\u2019s funded by the Science Mission Directorate\u2019s Astrophysics Division at NASA Headquarters. The BurstCube collaboration includes: the University of Alabama in Huntsville; the University of Maryland, College Park; the University of the Virgin Islands; the Universities Space Research Association in Washington; the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington; and NASA\u2019s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville.<\/p>\n

By Jeanette Kazmierczak<\/a><\/strong>
NASA\u2019s Goddard Space Flight Center<\/a>, Greenbelt, Md.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Media Contact:<\/strong>
Claire Andreoli<\/strong>
(301) 286-1940<\/strong>
claire.andreoli@nasa.gov<\/strong>
<\/a>NASA\u2019s Goddard Space Flight Center<\/a>, Greenbelt, Md.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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