Intro music.
With the approaching launch of NASA's Swift mission,
scientists are once again in the hunt for one of astronomy's most elusive artifacts: the gamma-ray burst.
Like fireworks in the night, gamma-ray bursts light up the sky as only the most powerful explosions in the universe can.
Gamma-ray bursts are incredibly intense releases of gamma radiation.
The bursts are thought to have originated with the very beginning of our universe.
It's possible that these ancient explosions mark the birth of black holes or death of stars.
The first gamma-ray burst was detected in 1967 by a U.S. military Vela satellite.
However, due to military security, their existence wasn't revealed until 1973.
Two, one, zero, and liftoff of the Space Shuttle Atlantis and the gamma ray observatory.
Modern, space-based gamma-ray burst research began in 1991 with the launch of the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory aboard Space Shuttle Atlantis.
In 1997, the European Space Agency's BeppoSAX satellite detected the lingering X-ray "afterglow" produced by erupting gamma-ray bursts.
This finding allowed astronomers to look at gamma-ray bursts in a new light
and paved the way for the development of new missions like the upcoming Swift.