Magnetic Shield in Outer Space

It's called the Swift Mission and its ambitious goal is to unlock the secrets of gamma-ray bursts in space, thus far a highly elusive subject. Swift is a part of NASA Midex, an international collaboration of nine NASA specialists, laboratories, universities and institutes that have teamed to produce and launch a specialized satellite in 2003 with the express purpose of probing gamma ray bursts. This mission is being managed by Dr. Neil Gehrels at NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center. Other team members include Los Alamos National Laboratory, Leicester University and Mullard Space Science Laboratory in the United Kingdom, and the Instituto di fisica Cosmica and Brera Observatory In Italy.

Magnetic Shield's involvement in the Swift Mission stems from our relationship with Pennsylvania State University, responsible for the electronics of the satellite's XRT and UVOT instruments. Familiar with our organization since placing its first order for shielding material in December of 2000, Penn State approached us in April of 2001 with its unique challenge. We designed a 6" long by 4" wide by 2" deep shield of .020 CO-NETIC AA alloy to be affixed to a circuit board via extremely precise solder points that had to match up with their counterparts on the board itself. The CO-NETIC AA alloy had to be completely "lot traceable" and accurate to ± .003". In addition, 16 small apertures are positioned on one of the 6" faces of the shield. Finally, the shield's "shoe box"-type lid is composed of numerous screws and dimples that also required exceptional accuracy.

Working with an astrophysicist and a technical buyer from Penn State's Applied Research Lab, we developed a prototype in July. The final design was approved in late October, and the products - four in all to be used with four circuit board assemblies, the best of which will be actually installed in the satellite - were shipped on December 12.

So, come 2003, when the world will learn all about gamma-ray bursts, remember you heard it here first!

The Swift Mission will unlock the secrets of gamma-ray bursts in space