The Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor (Fermi-GBM)

The GBM detector system consists of twelve single NaI detectors mounted in bunches of three detectors on each corner of the Fermi satellite, and of two BGO detectors mounted on opposite sides of the spacecraft.

This GBM detector system detects gamma-ray bursts and sends this information immediately to an international network of observing sites including other satellites (and the Fermi main instrument LAT). This enables immediate follow up observations. GBM itself measures spectra and lightcurves of those bursts in the energy range 8 keV to 30 MeV with high time resolution (0.256 s normal and 0.064 s during bursts).

GBM is a collaborative project between scientists of the MSFC in Huntsville, the University of Alabama in Huntsville and the MPE in Garching.

The MPE was responsible for the development of the detectors and the power supplies of the GBM. The detectors have been built by Jena-Optronik GmbH in Jena (Germany) and the power supplies have been built by Astrium in Friedrichshafen (Germany). In summer 2005 the detectors and the power supplies of the GBM were delivered to NASA and subsequently tested in great detail. In 2006 they were delivered to the manufacturer of the whole Fermi spacecraft (SpectrumAstro (now General Dynamics) in Phoenix, Arizona) and were then integrated with Fermi. On June 11, 2008 the Fermi satellite was launched aboard a Delta II rocket  from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida into earth orbit.