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Swift is a multi- wavelength space-based observatory dedicated to the study of gamma-ray burst (GRB) science. Its three instruments will work together to observe GRBs and afterglows in the gamma-ray, X-ray, ultraviolet, and optical wavebands. This mission is part of NASA's "Medium Explorer program" and the satellite was developed by an international consortium from the United StatesThe United States of America also referred to as the United States U. America ¹ or the States is a federal republic in central North America, stretching from the Atlantic in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west. It shares land borders with Canada in, United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a state in Western Europe, usually known simply as the United Kingdom the UK Britain or less accurately as Great Britain . The UK was formed by a series of Acts of Union which united the formerly, and ItalyThe Italian Republic or Italy ( Italian: Italia is a country in the south of Europe, consisting mainly of a boot-shaped peninsula together with two large islands in the Mediterranean Sea: Sicily and Sardinia. To the north, where it borders France, Switzer.
During its nominal mission of two yearA year is the time between two recurrences of an event related to the orbit of the Earth around the Sun. By extension, this can be applied to any planet: for example, "Martian year". Seasonal year A seasonal year is the time between successive recurrencess about 200 GRBs should be observed, and as with many other NASA missions, once the two years are conluded successfully the mission will probably be extended. A dedicated telescope will be used to locate the position of each event with an accuracy of 1 to 4 arc-minutes within 15 secondThis article is about the unit of time. See second (disambiguation) for other uses The second (symbol s is a unit for time, and one of seven SI base units. It is defined as the duration of 9,192,631,770 periods of the radiation corresponding to the transis. The satellite is then able to reorient itself automatically in about 20 to 75 seconds to point all of its instruments at the burst location. This ability is the reason for the mission's name "Swift." In order to achieve this fast slew rate, the observatory is equipped with momentum wheelA momentum wheel is a type of flywheel used primarily by spacecraft to change their angular momentum without using fuel for rockets or other reaction devices. They increase the pointing precision and reliability of a spacecraft, and may also reduce the mas as part of its reaction control system. These wheels are more massive than any used on past known spacecraft, and are therefore more effective at reorienting the spacecraft when they spin.
In the time between GRB events the instruments on board will conduct an all sky survey in the hard X-ray. After its successful completion, it is anticipated to yield new black hole candidates in the sky.