A tiny NASA satellite detects its first massive gamma-ray burst

A NASA cubesat designed to search for the universe’s most powerful and violent explosions has successfully detected its first massive burst, space agency officials announced. BurstCube, a shoebox-sized satellite placed into orbit in April to detect and study gamma-ray bursts, or GRBs, spotted a ‘mega blast’ in the small, dim constellation of Microscopium in the southern sky. The cosmic blast occurred on 29 June and in less than two seconds shone a quintillion times brighter than the Sun. “We’re excited to collect science data,” Sean Semper, who is BurstCube’s lead engineer at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, said in a statement. “It’s an important milestone for the team and for the many early career engineers and scientists that have been part of the mission.” BurstCube is designed to…

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All About Space (Digital) - 1 Issue, No. 161

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