http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-swift21nov21.story THE NATION
Swift Sets Out on a Little Cosmic Detective Work
The spacecraft will orbit the Earth in an effort to document the fleeting, yet powerfully explosive phenomenon called a gamma-ray burst.
By John Johnson
Times Staff Writer
November 21, 2004
The Swift spacecraft launched into orbit Saturday, carrying a payload of scientific instruments designed to probe some of the most powerful — and fleeting — explosive forces in the universe.
After delays caused by weather and an equipment malfunction on the venerable Delta II launch vehicle, the rocket lifted off shortly after noon from Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The 20-foot-tall spacecraft successfully separated from the rocket booster a little more than an hour later, NASA announced.
Orbiting Earth at 325 miles, the nimble Swift spacecraft will try to unravel one of the strangest phenomena in the cosmos, an awesome fireworks display known as a gamma-ray burst. These bursts of energy, which occur almost daily in some corner of the universe, are the most intense bursts of electromagnetic radiation ever measured.
The gamma-ray bursts it will try to catch "burn as brightly as a billion, billion suns," said Anne Kinney, director of the universe division at NASA. Although not visible to the naked eye, in the few seconds before they flicker out they release more energy than the sun will in its lifespan.
During its two-year mission, Swift is expected to pinpoint as many as 150 bursts. It is expected to take at least four months to activate and calibrate the instruments on board, at which point the spacecraft will begin serious work. <snip>
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