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Satellite parts manufactured in Butler County
Gamma ray bursts are brief but brilliant bursts of energy that happen two or three times each day. The detectors that were made by II-VI in Butler County will help the Swift spacecraft pinpoint the bursts' elusive afterglow, which can disappear in seconds.
The human eye can't see gamma ray bursts.
A division of II-VI -- eV Products -- is a pioneer in manufacturing cadmium zinc telluride detector material that can detect gamma rays by measuring the imprint they leave with electrons.
The letters eV are the universal symbol for electron volt.
An official at eV Products said all 62 employees in the division contributed to making the detectors that were shipped to NASA in October 2001.
They're excited that the launch date has finally come.
"There's a lot of wonder," said Fred Ferraro, operations manager. "This is the biggest satellite with our material that's ever gone up. It's also to some degree a proof of concept for the CZT (cadmium zinc telluride) material in the space community."
Employees plan an informal get-together today to watch the launch. They plan to project the live NASA TV Webcast onto a screen in their lunchroom.
"We'll be watching the launch with both excitement and trepidation until it gets up into the air and into space and functioning," Ferraro said.
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