![\"NASA\u2019s](\"https:\/\/cdn.satnow.com\/news\/nasa_C_638385621342480777.png\")
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Scientists and engineers at NASA\u2019s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, have completed testing for BurstCube, a shoebox-sized spacecraft designed to study the universe\u2019s most powerful explosions. Members of the team have also delivered the satellite to their partner Nanoracks (part of Voyager Space) in Houston, Texas, where it will be packed for launch.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven a satellite as tiny as BurstCube requires extensive verification before it can go to space,\u201d said Goddard\u2019s Lucia Tian<\/strong>, the mission\u2019s science instrument lead. \u201cWe characterized its magnetic field, tested it at extreme temperatures, and recreated the shaking it will experience at launch \u2013 just to name a few assessments.\u201d<\/p>\n BurstCube will search the sky for short gamma-ray bursts, brief flashes of the highest-energy form of light. Dense stellar remnants called neutron stars create these bursts when they collide with other neutron stars or black holes.<\/p>\n “Small missions like BurstCube provide valuable opportunities for early career scientists and engineers to see all aspects of a project from start to finish,” said Jeremy Perkins<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Astronomers are interested in learning more about these collisions because they\u2019re an important source of the universe\u2019s heavy elements, like gold and platinum. BurstCube\u2019s goal is to detect and locate bursts and alert other observatories to coordinate detailed follow-up studies. BurstCube will join a growing network of satellites and telescopes working together to witness changes in the universe as they unfold.<\/p>\n The spacecraft is slated for takeoff in March 2024 from NASA\u2019s Kennedy Space Center in Florida aboard a resupply mission to the International Space Station.<\/p>\n To ensure it can withstand the rattling it will experience at launch, the mission team transported BurstCube to Washington Laboratories in Frederick, Maryland, for vibration testing. Engineers strapped the satellite to a plate, which then vibrated at frequencies ranging from 20 to 20,000 hertz. Translated into sound, that spans bass to the upper limit of human hearing.<\/p>\n BurstCube will use Earth\u2019s magnetic field to orientate itself as it scans the sky. To do so, the mission team had to map the spacecraft\u2019s own magnetic field using a special facility at NASA\u2019s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.<\/p>\n \u201cThe magnetic calibration chamber generates a known magnetic field that cancels out Earth\u2019s,\u201d said Goddard engineer Kate Gasaway<\/strong>. \u201cOur measurements of BurstCube\u2019s field in the chamber will help us figure out where the satellite is pointing once in space, so we can locate gamma-ray bursts and tell other observatories where to look.\u201d<\/p>\n As BurstCube orbits, it will experience major temperature swings every 90 minutes as it passes in and out of daylight. The team evaluated how the spacecraft will operate in these new conditions using a thermal vacuum chamber at Goddard, where temperatures ranged from minus 4 to 113 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 20 to 45 Celsius).<\/p>\n In addition to these tests, the team ran many other assessments, like software and communications checks and ensuring the solar panels would open uninhibited after deployment from the space station.<\/p>\n \u201cSmall missions like BurstCube provide valuable opportunities for early career scientists and engineers to see all aspects of a project from start to finish,\u201d said Jeremy Perkins, BurstCube\u2019s principal investigator at Goddard. \u201cNow that we\u2019ve completed testing, the team and BurstCube are gearing up for the next steps toward launch.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Scientists and engineers at NASA\u2019s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, have completed testing for BurstCube, a shoebox-sized spacecraft designed to study the universe\u2019s most powerful explosions. Members of the team have also delivered the satellite to their partner Nanoracks (part of Voyager Space) in Houston, Texas, where it will be packed for launch. 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Interior components of the BurstCube satellite appear in this photograph. BurstCube, a shoebox-sized satellite that will study some of the universe\u2019s most powerful explosions, was designed and built at NASA\u2019s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. The four circular detectors make up the mission\u2019s gamma-ray detector.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n