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X-ray astronomers are cheering a decision to give BeppoSAX, an Italian-Dutch x-ray satellite, a new lease on life. The Italian space agency ASI last week extended operation of the spacecraft, which was due to be shut down for budgetary reasons at the end of the month, to 1 May 2002. The reprieve is "just marvelous," says astronomer Stan Woosley of the University of California, Santa Cruz.
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Eyes still open. BeppoSAX should continue to analyze gamma ray bursts (such as the one above) and other x-ray sources for another year.
CREDIT: BEPPOSAX |
BeppoSAX, launched 5 years ago, hit the headlines in 1997 when its wide-field x-ray cameras enabled astronomers to pin down gamma ray bursts, the most violent explosions in the universe (Science, 23 May 1997, p. 1194). Since then, its discoveries have starred in ScienceNOW stories about gamma ray bursts at the fringes of the galaxy (24 April 1998), gamma ray bursts possibly spawned by black holes (15 June 1998), and gamma ray bursts that appear to lack gamma rays (20 October 1999), among others.
BeppoSAX has only one gyroscope that still works, but if it fails, a clever software fix will soon allow the craft to navigate, says John Heise of the Space Research Organization Netherlands in Utrecht. And if it remains healthy, officials say, they may extend BeppoSAX's life-span even further.
--GOVERT SCHILLING
Related sites
The Space Research Organization Netherlands' BeppoSAX home page
The Italian Space Agency's BeppoSAX home page
NASA's BeppoSAX site, with links to data archives
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