On 3/14/23, at 7:30pm CDT, the Glowbug payload was successfully launched to ISS on a Space-X resupply mission. Glowbug is a gamma-ray burst experiment led by Eric Grove (Naval Research Laboratory). Glowbug primary science objective is to detect and localize short gamma-ray bursts (SGRBs). It will complement missions like the Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor, providing additional sky coverage, so short gamma-ray bursts are less likely to be missed, for example if they are behind the Earth for Fermi.
Glowbug serves as a technology demonstrator for sensitive, low-cost gamma-ray burst detectors developed at NRL. The MSFC-led Starburst smallsat mission builds on this technology demonstration. Colleen Wilson-Hodge and Dan Kocevski (ST12) are involved in Glowbug science. MSFC funds Adam Goldstein and Bill Cleveland (USRA) for the Glowbug data pipeline and data delivery to the High Energy Astrophysics Science Archive Research Center (HEASARC) and Michael Briggs and Boyan Hristov (UAH) for rapid gamma-ray burst alerts to be delivered to the astrophysical community.
