Missions & Projects
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Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE)
The Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) studies energetic particles from the sun as well as sources within and outside our galaxy. ACE observations contribute to our understanding of the formation and evolution of the solar system as well as the astrophysical processes involved. NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center provided detectors and telescopes for several of ACE's instruments. The mission launched in 1997.
Key Staff
- Project Scientist: Eric Christian
Burst Alert Telescope (BAT)
With its large field-of-view (2 steradians) and high sensitivity, the BAT detects about 100 Gamma Ray Bursts per year, and computes burst positions onboard the satellite with arc-minute positional accuracy.
BurstCube
The BurstCube mission is a small (6U) Cubesat to detect gamma-ray burst events, providing rapid alerts and initial detection localization. It operates from low earth orbit after being deployed from the International Space Station. BurstCube has been developed at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center’s Astrophysics Science Division.
Calorimetric Electron Telescope (CALET)
CALET will measure the high-energy spectra of electrons, nuclei, and gamma-rays to address outstanding questions including signatures of dark matter, the sources of high-energy particles and photons, and the details of particle acceleration and transport in the galaxy.
Cosmic Ray Balloon Instruments
NASA scientists have flown several instruments on high-altitude balloons to study the origin of cosmic rays. The Balloon Experiment Superconducting Spectrometer (BESS), in partnership with the University of Tokyo, observes antimatter cosmic rays. The Cosmic Ray Energetic and Mass (CREAM) with University of Maryland, targets high-energy cosmic rays. And the Super Trans-Iron Galactic Element Recorder (SuperTIGER) with Washington University, focuses on cosmic ray elemental abundances.
Cosmic Ray Energetics and Mass (CREAM)
The balloon-borne CREAM instrument was developed for direct measurements of cosmic-ray spectra
Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope
The Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope is opening a wide new window on the universe. Gamma rays are the highest-energy form of light, and the gamma-ray sky is radically different from the one we perceive with our own eyes. Fermi is advancing our understanding of a broad range of topics, including supermassive black holes, dark matter studies, the physics of pulsars and gamma-rays bursts, and the origin of cosmic rays. The mission observes high-energy gamma rays over a broad range of energies as well as more focused gamma-ray bursts. Fermi was launched in 2008.
Key Staff
- Project Scientist: Julie McEnery
- Project Scientist: Elizabeth Hays
- Deputy Project Scientist: David Thompson
- Deputy Project Scientist: Judith Racusin
Fermi Science Tools
The Fermi mission is providing a suite of tools called the Fermi Science Tools for the analysis of both LAT and GBM data. This suite was developed by the FSSC and the instrument teams, and was reviewed by the Fermi Users' Group.
INTEGRAL: International Gamma-Ray Astrophysics Laboratory (INTEGRAL)
INTEGRAL is a European Space Agency (ESA) mission with participation by NASA and Russia to provide imaging and spectroscopy of the gamma-ray sky. The satellite observes the most violent and exotic objects of the universe and helps us to understand the formation of new chemical elements, the extreme conditions near the outer edges (event horizons) of black holes, and other essential astrophysical issues. ESA launched the observatory in 2002.
STEREO In-situ Measurements of Particles and CME Transients (IMPACT)
IMPACT is one of the STEREO mission's four measurement packages whose principal objective is to understand the origin and consequences of coronal mass ejections (CME's).
Swift
The Swift mission observes gamma-ray bursts and probes conditions in the distant (high-redshift) universe. The mission consists of three instruments on a spacecraft that can rapidly reorient itself to observe new targets. Within seconds of detecting a burst, Swift relays a burst's location to ground stations. This enables both ground-based and space-based telescopes around the world to target and observe the burst's afterglow. The spacecraft observes approximately 90 gamma-ray bursts per year. Additionally, it observes other transient sources of many types, such as, supernovae, novae, tidal disruption events, black hole transients, and comets. Swift was launched in 2004, and renamed the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory in 2018.
Key Staff
- Principal Investigator: Brad Cenko
- Project Scientist: Scott Barthelmy
- Deputy Project Scientist: Brad Cenko
Instruments
