KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - Quality Assurance Services technicians Willy Jones and Brian Kittle do some touch-up work on the Swift spacecraft in Hangar AE at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Swift has been wrapped with blankets to provide thermal stability during the mission. Swift is a first-of-its-kind multi-wavelength 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. The most comprehensive study of GRB afterglows to date, Swift is expected to observe more than 200 gamma-ray bursts during its 2-year mission.

The inaugural Glenn Symposium focused on advancements in aerospace technology including power and propulsion, autonomy and communications, low boom supersonics, hypersonics, and more. Discussion also encompassed humans returning to the moon, including challenges associated with the 2024 mission.