[NASA] NASA’s Mini BurstCube Mission Detects Mega Blast

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NASA’s Mini BurstCube Mission Detects Mega Blast

The shoebox-sized BurstCube satellite has observed its first gamma-ray burst, the most powerful kind of ********** in the universe, according to a recent analysis of observations collected over the last several months.

“We’re excited to collect science data,” said Sean Semper, BurstCube’s lead engineer at NASA’s 

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 in Greenbelt, Maryland. “It’s an important milestone for the team and for the many early career engineers and scientists that have been part of the mission.”

The event, called GRB 240629A, occurred on June 29 in the southern constellation Microscopium. The team announced the discovery in a GCN (General Coordinates Network)

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on August 29.

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BurstCube, trailed by another CubeSat named SNOOPI (Signals of Opportunity P-band Investigation), emerges from the International Space Station on April 18, 2024.

NASA/Matthew Dominick

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 deployed into orbit April 18 from the International Space Station, following a March 21 

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.

The mission was designed to detect, locate, and study short 

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, brief flashes of high-energy light created when superdense objects like 

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 collide. These collisions also produce 

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 like gold and iodine, an essential ingredient for life as we know it. 

BurstCube is the first CubeSat to use NASA’s 

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 system, a constellation of specialized communications spacecraft. Data relayed by TDRS (pronounced “tee-driss”) help coordinate rapid follow-up measurements by other observatories in space and on the ground through NASA’s

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.

BurstCube also regularly beams data back to Earth using the Direct to Earth system — both it and TDRS are part of NASA’s 

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.

After BurstCube deployed from the space station, the team discovered that one of the two solar panels ******* to fully extend. It obscures the view of the mission’s star tracker, which hinders orienting the spacecraft in a way that minimizes drag. The team originally hoped to operate BurstCube for 12-18 months, but now estimates the increased drag will cause the satellite to re-enter the atmosphere in September. 

“I’m proud of how the team responded to the situation and is making the best use of the time we have in orbit,” said Jeremy Perkins, BurstCube’s principal investigator at Goddard. “Small missions like BurstCube not only provide an opportunity to do great science and test new technologies, like our mission’s gamma-ray detector, but also important learning opportunities for the up-and-coming members of the astrophysics community.”

BurstCube is led by Goddard. It’s funded by the 

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 at NASA Headquarters. The BurstCube collaboration includes: the University of Alabama in Huntsville; the University of Maryland, College Park; the Universities Space Research Association in Washington; the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington; and NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville.

Download high-resolution photos and videos of BurstCube

By Jeanette Kazmierczak

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, Greenbelt, Md.

Media Contact:
Claire Andreoli
301-286-1940
*****@*****.tld
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.

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Last Updated

Sep 03, 2024

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