Editing Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory (section)

== Mission goals ==
The Swift mission has four key scientific objectives:
* To determine the origin of GRBs. There seem to be at least two types of GRBs, only one of which can be explained with a [[hypernova]], creating a gamma-ray beam. More data is needed to explore other explanations
* To use GRBs to expand understanding of the young [[universe]]. GRBs seem to take place at "cosmological distances" of many millions or billions of [[light-years]], which means they can be used to probe the distant, and therefore young, cosmos
* To conduct an all-sky survey which will be more sensitive than any previous one, and will add significantly to scientific knowledge of astronomical X-ray sources. Thus, it could also yield unexpected results
* To serve as a general purpose gamma-ray/X-ray/optical observatory platform, performing rapid "target of opportunity" observations of many transient astrophysical phenomena, such as [[supernova]]