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NASA’s mini satellite, BurstCube, has begun its journey to the International Space Station (ISS), a space research center, aboard SpaceX’s 30th Commercial Resupply Services mission. The launch took place at 4:55 p.m. EDT on Thursday (March 21) from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. BurstCube’s mission focuses on detecting and pinpointing the locations of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), which are intense explosions from distant galaxies and are among the most energetic phenomena in the universe. The goal is to obtain information about the nature and origins of these bursts.
Once it reaches the ISS, BurstCube will be prepared for deployment in space. Jeremy Perkins, principal investigator for BurstCube at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, highlighted the satellite’s dual purpose: studying these cosmic events and testing new technologies while offering valuable hands-on experience to budding astronomers and aerospace engineers. .
Researchers believe that short GRBs are the result of neutron star mergers. These stars approach each other and eventually collide, a process driven by the emission of gravitational waves. GRBs are crucial to understanding how heavy elements, such as gold and iodine, are formed. The extreme conditions during a GRB, including intense heat and density, allow for the synthesis of these elements.
BurstCube is equipped with detectors arranged to maximize the accuracy of detecting and locating gamma-ray bursts, according to Israel Martinez, a research scientist at the University of Maryland, College Park and Goddard. He points out the limitation of current gamma-ray missions, which can only study about 70% of the sky at any given time because the Earth obstructs their view. Adding satellites like BurstCube improves our ability to observe more explosions, especially those that coincide with gravitational wave events.
The satellite’s main instrument is capable of detecting gamma rays in the energy range of 50,000 to 1 million electron volts. Julie Cox, BurstCube mechanical engineer at Goddard, shared that the team could purchase many components, such as solar panels and other standardized CubeSat parts, available on the market. This approach allowed them to focus on innovative elements of the mission, such as internally developed components and the instrument itself, showing the potential of compact gamma-ray detectors in space exploration.
