History of Swift

Note: Preserved web page - please forgive formatting

NASA Competition for Medium Explorer Missions (1998)

NASA Announcement of Oportunity TBD - Title of Swift 1998 proposal ~Introductory Paragraph~

Penn State's X-Ray Astronomy Research Group

Proposal to NASA for Swift

Swift Selected as Finalist (February 1999)

TBD - Penn State or College of Science newsletter headline

Swift Selected for Launch (September 1999)

Penn State's Swift Proposal Team at NASA/GSFC for Final Presentation

Swift Song TBD - Penn State or College of Science newsletter headline

Growing Pains (1999 - 2002)

Davey Laboratory

Swift "Mission Ops Center"

Bristol Park Building #1

XRT Clean Room

Bristol Park Building #2 Bristol Park Building #3 Building #3 Expansion for L&EO

ASI-NASA Conference at the San Marco Station, Malindi, Kenya (December 2000)

10 meter ASI antennas and University of Rome

Off-shore Launch Platform	Getting onto the Launch Platform

Bay by Ground Station

Sign for Local Internet Company - Swift

Launches from Malindi included Uhuru [date], Ariel V [date], and SAS-3 [date]

Design & Development

XRT UVOT BAT GNEST GNEST GNEST

Women Team Members

Scientists

Engineers/Managers

XRT Integration at Goddard Space Flight Center (dates to be supplied)

Installing Flight Mirrors

XRT Telescope Tube Integration

XRT in Clean Tent

UVOT's Arrival at Goddard Space Flight Center (date to be supplied) - May 2?

UVOT in its Shipping Crate

BAT Integration at Goddard Space Flight Center (dates to be supplied)

BAT in Clean Tent Positioning Test Source BAT with Cooling System BAT Team at Consoles Hurricane

XRT Calibration at Max Planck Institute's Panter Facility (October 2002)

Arrival and Unloading

Focal Plane Camera Assembly in Clean Room

Positioning XRT in Vacuum Chamber

XRT Team in Facility Control Room

Bernried

	Maypole in Neuried

UVOT Calibration at Goddard Space Flight Center (November 2002)

UVOT in Vacuum Chamber UVOT Team in Facility Control Room [pick several more - shrimp party, team members] Grism or Spot Grid Image

"Shake & Bake" - Vibration, Thermal, Electromagnetic Resonance/Interference, & [tbd] Testing

XRT in EMI Chamber Observatory in Vibration Chamber

Swift Integration & Testing at Goddard Space Flight Center (dates to be supplied)

UVOT in Hubble Space Telescope Cleanroom (SSDIF)

UVOT Being Lowered into Position

XRT next to UVOT on Spacecraft

BAT in Position Cabling/Blanketing/etc.

Thermal Vacuum Testing (May 2004)

Space Environment Simulator (Thermal Vacuum Test Chamber)

XRT area	UVOT area
TVAC Testing

Mini-MOC

Thermal Vacuum Testing Profile

Mission Simulations

Preparation for Launch (October - November 2004)

Swift in Fairing Hurricane Delays Hurricane Delays Hurricane Delays Swift on Delta II

Swift Launch (20 November 2004)

Launch

Launch	Fairing Release	Second Stage Separation

MOC Team at Separation

Launch & Early Orbit Checkout

Thanksgiving at the MOC

Spectrum Astro Room XRT Door Opened XRT First Light UVOT Door Opened UVOT First Light BAT Cave BAT "First Light"?? First BAT Detection of a GRB First BAT Trigger on a Confirmed GRB Spacecraft Bus Acceptance Review First Target of Opportunity First XRT Detection of a GRB First UVOT Image of GRB Field First UVOT Detection of a GRB

Normal Operations Begin

"Lights Out" Link to "Day in the Life"

Recent Significant Achievements

Supernovae: SN2005am, cf, cs Short GRB "Swift Transient" (~July 1)

Comet Tempel

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