  A bright, x-ray-rich GRB was detected by HETE-2 at 11:18:34.03 UT on 11 Dec
2002. The WXM localization was to 14' and relayed to the GCN 22 s after the
start of the burst. The ground SXC localization was within 2' of R.A. 08h 09m
00s, Dec 06d 44' 20" (J2000). GRB021211 consists of a single, FRED-like pulse
with t90s of 2.3 s (85-400 keV) and 8.5 s (2-10 keV). The peak photon number
and photon energy fluxes in the 2-400 keV band, are 34.0 +/- 1.8 ph cm^-2 s^-1
and 1.68 +/- 0.11 x 10^-6 erg cm^-2 s^-1, respectively. The energy fluences in
the 2-30 keV and 30-400 kev energy bands are S_X = 1.36 +/- 0.05 x 10^-6 erg
cm^-2 and S_gamma 2.17 +/- 0.15 x 10^-6 erg cm^-2, respectively. Thus GRB021211
is an X-ray-rich GRB (S_X/S_gamma = 0.63 > 0.32). The spectrum is well-fit by a
Band function (alpha = -0.805, beta = -2.37, E_peak = 46.8 keV). The prompt
localization allowed the detection of an optical afterglow for what would
otherwise have been an ``optically dark'' GRB. GRB 021211 demonstrates that
some fraction of burst afterglows are ``optically dark'' because their optical
afterglows at times > 1 hr after the burst are very faint, and thus have often
escaped detection. GRB 021211 shows that such ``optically dim'' bursts can have
very bright afterglows at times < 20 min after the burst.
