GLAST Burst Monitor (GBM) Logo GLAST Burst Monitor


A Description of the GLAST Burst Monitor Instrument

Science goals of the mission Science Goals

Recent GCN Circulars from GBM GCN Circulars

People involved with the GBM project Collaborators

Public resources including publications Public Resources

Restricted access intranet Internal Access

 

The Gamma-Ray Large Area Space Telescope launched on June 11 2008

Launch of GLAST Satellite June 11 2008.

The Gamma-Ray Large Area Space Telescope (GLAST) is NASA's next major mission dedicated to observations of high energy gamma rays. Launched on June 11 2008, its main instrument, the Large Area Telescope (LAT), will provide unprecedented sensitivity to gamma rays in the energy range of about 20 MeV to about 300 GeV. The GLAST Burst Monitor (GBM) complements the LAT in its observations of transient sources and is sensitive to X-rays and gamma rays with energies between 8 keV and 25 MeV. The combination of the GBM and the LAT provides a powerful tool for studying gamma-ray bursts, particularly for time-resolved spectral studies over a very large energy band. To follow the progress of GLAST through the early part of its mission, please read the GLAST Blog.

The operation of the GLAST Burst Monitor and analysis of its observational data continues to be a collaborative effort between the National Space Science and Technology Center in the U.S. and the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics (MPE) in Germany. The Principal Investigator is Dr. Charles Meegan at MSFC. Dr. Jochen Greiner at MPE is co-PI.

Upcoming events

 

Oct 19 -- 24 2008

After an absence of 9 years, the Gamma-Ray Burst Symposium is returning to Huntsville, AL. It will take place 19--24 October 2008. The website contains information about the program and the logistics of the meeting and allows online registration.

 

 
News

 

August 2008

NASA announced the new name for the GLAST observatory which will now be known as the Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope. The GLAST Burst Monitor will keep the acronym GBM which will now stand for Gamma-ray Burst Monitor and will adopt the prefix Fermi. Both the GBM and the LAT presented first light images to the press. The Fermi GBM continues to detect gamma-ray bursts and other phenomena. Here is a list of our recent GCN circulars.

June 2008

  GLAST launched from Pad 17B GLAST was launched on June 11. GBM team member and photographer, Michael Briggs, captured the moment from Jetty Park, Cape Canaveral. The US contingent of the GBM team is busy supporting Early Orbit operations at Mission Operations Center (Goddard Space Flight Center) and the entire team is working to implement Ground System operations at the NSSTC and MPE.

May 2008

  GLAST being wrapped in its fairing in the mobile tower of launch pad 17B GLAST has left Astrotech and is being prepared for a June 5 2008 launch.

Februrary 2008

In December 2007 the GLAST Observatory was shipped to Naval Research Lab (NRL) for Thermal Vacuum testing. This testing was completed in Febrary 2008. The Observatory has now been shipped to Florida and resides at the Astrotech facility where it is undergoing final calibrations and testing.

October 2007

Vibration and Acoustics Testing took place at General Dynamics.

July 2007

Following successful completion of the Comprehensive Performance Test (CPT), observatory-level environmental testing of GLAST began at General Dynamics. Electromagnetic Interference/Compatibility (EMI/EMC) scans required the spacecraft be moved to a special chamber beginning June 2007. EMI/EMC scans are now complete and the spacecraft has been returned to the High Bay.

 

March 2007

The first Observatory Level testing was performed in the High Bay of the Factory of the Future at General Dynamics.

 

February 2007

The First International GLAST Symposium took place at Stanford University on 5-8 February 2007. The website has instructions for authors and other information regarding the meeting.

 

January 2007

The GBM is now mechanically and electrically integrated with the spacecraft. It performed successfully during its functional testing.

 

December 2006

The LAT has now been mechanically integrated with the spacecraft.

 

October 2006

GBM is currently being integrated with the spacecraft.

 

August 8th, 2006

GBM bench testing at SpectrumAstro is complete and GBM is ready for integration with the spacecraft. During lulls in testing, GBM team members relax by flying in small planes ( Michael with SpectrumAstro engineer Tim Morse, Valerie).

 

July 24th, 2006

GBM was packed and shipped from the NSSTC to General Dynamics SpectrumAstro in Gilbert, AZ. As promised, Chip kisses the wheel to bid the truck on its way. A press release by MSFC covers the story.

 

June 28, 2006

Chip, Steve and Fred contemplating the newly arrived NaI detector Fred and Andreas in the lab
On June 28 2006, the GBM team lost a most valued member and friend. Fred Berry, our lead systems engineer, died unexpectedly after a short illness. Fred was involved in the design and construction of GBM from its inception, and contributed to every aspect of its development. He had a working and personal relationship with many team members going back to the development of the BATSE experiment in the 1980's, and is greatly missed by all of us.

 

May, 2006

GBM went through thermal vacuum testing in the Environmental Test Facility at Marshall Space Flight Center.

 

April, 2006

GBM underwent electromagnetic interference (EMI) testing at Marshall Space Flight Center.

 

December, 2005

Past, present and future GRB Experiment Principal Investigators at recent GRB conference GRB Symposium Gamma-Ray Bursts in the Swift Era (College Park, MD).

 

October, 2005

All flight detectors and electronics integrated at NSSTC:

System Integration on test bench in lab at NSSTC.

 

September, 2005

Flight Detectors and DPU shipped to NSSTC:

First Integration on test bench in lab at NSSTC.

 

June, 2005

Engineering Quality Model Detectors shipped to NSSTC:

BGO Detector on test bench in lab at NSSTC.

NaI Detector on test bench.

Closeup of NaI detector.

 

April, 2005

Engineering Quality Model Detectors at Max Planck Institute:

Gluing thermostat on EQM.

NaI and BGO Detectors in thermal vacuum chamber

Flight Module Detectors at Max Planck Institute:

Gluing heater on Flight Module.

Assembly of NaI detector.

Flight module photomultiplier tubes.

 

March, 2005

GBM Instrument to Spacecraft Interface Simulator integration test successfully held at SpectrumAstro site in Arizona.

When it's over, Bill and Bob sample local cuisine.

 

Older news items available in the GBM News Archive


Links

For information on the GLAST mission, visit the following sites: