The Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, formerly GLAST, was launched on June 11, 2008.

CSPAR scientists are part of the team that designed, built and operate one of the two

Fermi instruments, the Gamma-Ray Burst Monitor (GBM).

The primary objective of GBMis to extend the energy range over which gamma-ray bursts (GRBs)

are observed downward from the energy range of the Large Area Telescope (LAT) on Fermi

into the hard X-ray range where extensive previous data sets exist. A secondary objective is

to compute GRB locations on-board to allow re-orienting the spacecraft so that the LAT can

observe delayed emission from bright bursts. GBM uses an array of twelve sodium iodide (NaI)

scintillators and two bismuth germanate (BGO) scintillators to detect gamma rays from

~8 keV to ~40 MeV over the full unocculted sky.

Software on-board GBM detects and localizes GRBs and transmits information to the LAT

and to the ground in near real time. GBM also triggers on solar flares, Terrestrial Gamma

Flashes (TGFs) and Soft Gamma Repeaters (SGRs), allowing detailed studies of these sources.

When not processing a burst trigger, GBM transmits background data useful for monitoring

various astrophysical X-ray sources, most notably X-ray pulsars and microquasars.