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BLAST - Burst Locations with an Arc Second Telescope
The principal scientific objectives of the proposed BLAST mission were to:
- localize gamma-ray bursts (GRB) with arcsec accuracy;
- search for enhancements in the rate of GRBs towards M31; and
- conduct the most sensitive full-sky survey to date of X-ray sources in the 7 to 200 keV regime.
A large Field-of-View (FOV) hard X-ray telescope with arcsec positioning and arcmin imaging provided the crucial tools both to identify GRB counterparts and to test galactic halo GRB models. The BLAST mission was also designed to carry on the pioneering studies of high energy emission from neutron star and black hole binaries, rotation-powered pulsars, supernova remnants, and active galactic nuclei.
Praxis provided decision support, program planning, multimedia design, and document management services for BLAST.