  The Swift satellite will be a self-contained observatory that will bring new
capabilities to the observing of the early afterglow emission of Gamma-ray
Bursts. Swift is completely autonomous and will do all of the observations
without help from the ground. There are three instruments on Swift. A large
(5200 sq cm) coded aperture imager will locate the bursts within about 15
seconds. The satellite will be able to slew to point at the location within a
minute or two. There are two narrow field of view instruments: an optical
telescope and an x-ray telescope. Thus, Swift will provide simultaneous
gamma-ray, x-ray, and optical observations of Gamma-ray bursts soon after the
burst. A key to the success of Swift will be its ability to detect and locate a
large number of gamma-ray bursts quick enough that the narrow field of view
instruments can follow up. The results of simulations show that Swift will be
able to detect about 300 bursts a year and locate about 150. The number that
Swift will be able to slew to depends on constraints built into the satellite
bus. Preliminary results indicate that we might be able to slew to 100 bursts
per year, but that is heavily dependent on satellite operations.
