Years ago our understanding of gamma-ray bursts was so limited we thought they could have been located anywhere, from the edge of the outer solar system to the most distant reaches of the Universe. Beppo SAX, HETE-2, Swift Multiwavelength Observatory, and Fermi Gamma Ray Space Telescope missions helped answer some of these questions. But there is much more research to be done. We are still developing models for understanding the origins and physics of bursts. We can use observations of bursts to test theoretical predictions, for instance, about the nature of the last stages of supernovae. In some cases, it’s expected that the observations and the theory will not agree: the theories may need modification, or there may be new physical principles indicated that were not previously accounted for.

But some people ask “What is astronomy good for?” Well, it’s not just good for nice pictures for textbooks, even though pictures from space are very inspirational. And with high energy astrophysics the science that comes out is hardcore, it doesn’t produce the Hubble-like pictures of pretty nebulae. In gamma ray astronomy, the pictures aren’t very pretty – they’re not even meaningful unless you know what you’re looking at, so it’s hard to get the public excited about the kind of research high energy physicists do. What we do allows us to come up with a new understanding of physics – it’s fundamental physics.

But all space research advances technology development that sooner or later has an effect on everyday life. Technology is the magic that allows astronomers to make discoveries. On Earth, gamma ray science is really important for imaging in medical applications and security. For example, if you have a big container that comes into a harbor, how do you make sure there’s no ticking device hidden inside of it? Either you can take everything out, and take a look a it – but that’s not feasible, too expensive. An x-ray machine doesn’t work because the x-rays actually don’t make it through some material. But gamma rays are very penetrating. Even though they don’t make it through the Earth’s atmosphere, they do make it through a full inch of steel.

Another question you often hear is whether we need to do the science we do from space, or if we can do it from the ground. There is a lot we can do with Earth-based instruments. You can actually observe gamma rays from the ground by indirect means, using Earth’s atmosphere as a detector. When high energy photons hit the atmosphere they create an avalanche of particles that you can detect on Earth. But the high energy regime, you are simply bound to do this from space. At the very least you have to have a detector in space that can pinpoint the position of gamma ray bursts accurately enough so you can point ground-based instruments at that location.

I could easily see the next generation getting excited about putting a group of women on Mars. And a bunch of men on Venus, maybe. But as with all research we have to ask, Is that actually feasible on the right time scale, and is it affordable? There are a lot of considerations when making decisions about pursuing and funding space research. And if the mechanism for doing space research were to go away, if we went to a private enterprise model of commercial space exploration, how would that affect research? Is Virgin Galactic going to let me build a satellite? Are they interested in letting me look at x-ray stars or are they just interested in putting a space tourism center in orbit?