Counting down to Swift launch (Forwarded)

Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council
Swindon, U.K.

Press Contacts:

Gill Ormrod
PPARC Press Office
Tel: 01793 442012


Nancy Neal (launch information)
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
Tel: +00 1 301/286-0039


Lynn Cominsky (science / instrumentation)
NASA Swift Press Officer, Sonoma State University
Tel: +00 1 (707) 6642655


Ather Mirza
University of Leicester Press Office
Tel: 0116 252 3335


Judith Moore
University College London Press Office
Tel: 020 7679 7678


25 October 2004

Counting down to Swift launch

On November 8th NASA's Swift mission, which will study the explosive phenomena
of gamma ray bursts, will launch from Cape Canaveral in Florida. UK scientists,
from the University of Leicester and University College London's Mullard Space
Science Laboratory, have designed and built core elements of two of the three
Swift telescopes. In addition UK astronomers will be involved in follow up
observations using ground-based telescopes across the World.

"Swift is unique because it brings together space scientists and ground-based
astronomers in a way that has never been achieved before -- working together,
they are poised to reveal the origins and complexity of the most violent
phenomena in the Universe -- gamma-ray bursts." said Professor Ian Halliday,
Chief Executive of the Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council (PPARC).

Lasting only between a few milli-seconds to a few minutes gamma ray bursts are
the most explosive events in the Universe -- emitting more than one hundred
billion times the energy that the Sun emits in an entire year. However, the
afterglow, which frequently follows a burst continues to emit X-rays, optical
light and radio waves for hours to weeks afterwards.

The Burst Alert Telescope (BAT) will detect and locate about two gamma-ray
bursts per week, relaying a position to the ground within about 20 seconds.
This position will then be used to "swiftly" steer the satellite to point the
X-ray Telescope (XRT), directly at the burst position. Meanwhile, Swift will
'e-mail' scientists and telescopes around the world to observe the burst in
real-time through the Swift Gamma-ray Burst Coordinates Network (GCN). This
includes UK astronomers using telescope facilities such as the Faulkes
Telescopes in Hawaii and Australia, the William Herschel and Liverpool
Telescopes in La Palma and the European Southern Observatory's Very Large
Telescope in Chile.

Professor Alan Wells from the University of Leicester, UK Lead Investigator for
the XRT onboard Swift, is also eagerly awaiting the launch.

"Of the 10 space missions I've worked on over the past 30 years, Swift is by far
the most innovative. The mission, the spacecraft and especially the scientific
instruments that we, in the UK, have had a big hand in over the past 5 years,
are finely tuned to push back the frontiers of the understanding of gamma ray
bursts. The launch of Swift on November 8 is the next big step in this new
scientific adventure."

Professor Keith Mason, Mullard Space Science Laboratory, UCL and UK lead
investigator for the Ultra Violet/Optical Telescope (UVOT) on Swift added,
"After several years of extremely hard work in planning and building the
mission, and a couple of false starts due to hurricanes, the build up of tension
is palpable. Launch is clearly a make or break event. The science case for Swift
has grown ever stronger over the years, and there is a huge sense of
anticipation that we can finally begin to address the fundamental questions
about gamma-ray bursts that Swift was designed to tackle."

Professor Martin Ward, Chair of PPARC's Science Committee said: "We are almost
exactly at the 30th year anniversary of a seminal X-ray space mission called
Ariel V, which was a joint UK/NASA endeavour. That mission revolutionized X-ray
astronomy. We are now poised to launch the Swift gamma-ray/X-ray satellite, in
collaboration with our American and Italian colleagues, which will provide
unique opportunities to further our understanding of the extreme physics in the
violent universe."

Swift, a medium-class Explorer mission, is managed by NASA's Goddard Space
Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., Swift was built in collaboration with national
laboratories, and universities, including the Los Alamos National Laboratory,
Penn State University, Sonoma State University, and international partners, in
Italy, and the University of Leicester and University College's Mullard Space
Science Laboratory in the UK.

Notes to Editors:

NASA media briefing

NASA will be holding a several media events in the lead up to launch, including:

* A pre-launch press briefing at NASA Headquarters on 1st November

* A science briefing on 7th November at NASA's Kennedy Space Centre, which will
feature Professor Alan Wells, University of Leicester, UK Lead Investigator on
the X-Ray Telescope.

For NASA TV and live internet coverage see NASA's media website,
http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasat..._Breaking.html

Images

* NASA -- Swift Overview

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/swift/main/index.html
* NASA -- Swift Images
http://swift.gsfc.nasa.gov/public/news/image/

Video Resources

A media resource tape containing information about the building of the
spacecraft, animations about gamma ray bursts and the UK involvement is
available from the PPARC press office. Contact Gill Ormrod if you would like to
receive a copy.

UK Launch event

There will be the opportunity to watch the launch live, via NASA TV, at the
National Space Centre, Leicester on November 8th. The launch window is between
5:02 pm and 6:02 pm GMT.

UK scientists will be on hand to provide commentary.

For further details contact: Gilly Lloyd, Tel: 01273 243680

UK involvement

The UK role in Swift has been to provide core elements of the narrow field
instruments (the X-ray telescope and the UV/Optical telescope), utilising mature
technology already developed for the ESA XMM-Newton mission, and the JeT-X
instrument.

University of Leicester
Lead role in the X-ray telescope design, and delivery of the focal plane camera
and its cooled X-ray CCD detector (using past experience from JET-X and
XMM-Newton). The UK SWIFT Science DATA Centre, at Leicester, will provide an
archive of all SWIFT data, with open access for the wider UK astronomical community.

Mullard Space Science Laboratory, UCL
The major part of the UV/Optical telescope was constructed at MSSL using designs
and expertise from the XMM-Newton Optical Monitor.

Mission Costs

The total cost of the mission is £138 million (250 million dollars).

The UK contribution, funded by the Particle Physics and Astronomy Research
Council, is £3.81 million (plus a further £2.35 million for post launch support).

Science contacts

Professor Alan Wells, University of Leicester
UK Lead Investigator for X-ray Telescope Team
Tel: 0116 252 3522. Mobile: 0796 8068410


Professor Keith Mason, Mullard Space Science Laboratory, UCL
UK Lead Investigator for UV/Optical Telescope Team
Tel: 01483 204100


Professor Martin Ward, Chair of PPARC Science Committee, University of Durham
Tel: 0191 334 3797


Dr Nial Tanvir, University of Hertfordshire
Involved in telescope follow up
Tel: 01707 2862899


Professor Mike Bode, Liverpool John Moores University
Involved in telescope follow up
Tel: 0151 231 2920


Lucie Green, Faulkes Telescope Project
Tel: 029 20875121


Further science contacts

University of Leicester

Mr Tony Abbey -- XRT Instrument Specialist
Tel: 0116 252 3490

Dr Julian Osborne -- Post launch Swift team lead for Leicester
Tel: 0116 252 3598

Dr Paul O'Brien -- GRB Scientist
Tel: 0116 252 3598

Mullard Space Science Laboratory

Mary Carter (technical)
Tel: 01483 204119


Alex Blustin (science)
Tel: 01483 204196


Websites

* Previous PPARC release
http://www.pparc.ac.uk/Nw/Swift_arrival.asp
* NASA's Swift website
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/swift/main/index.html
* Goddard Space Flight Centre
http://swift.gsfc.nasa.gov/
* University of Leicester
http://www.src.le.ac.uk/projects/swift/
* Mullard Space Science Laboratory
http://www.mssl.ucl.ac.uk/pages/gene...ft/SWIFT6.html

PPARC

The Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council (PPARC) is the UK's
strategic science investment agency. It funds research, education and public
understanding in four broad areas of science -- particle physics, astronomy,
cosmology and space science.

PPARC is government funded and provides research grants and studentships to
scientists in British universities, gives researchers access to world-class
facilities and funds the UK membership of international bodies such as the
European Organisation for Nuclear Research, CERN, the European Space Agency and
the European Southern Observatory. It also contributes money for the UK
telescopes overseas on La Palma, Hawaii, Australia and in Chile, the UK
Astronomy Technology Centre at the Royal Observatory, Edinburgh and the
MERLIN/VLBI National Facility.