The interplanetary gamma ray burst network

The Interplanetary Gamma-Ray Burst Network (IPN) is providing gamma-ray burst (GRB) alerts and localizations at the maximum rate anticipated before the launch of the Swift mission. The arc-minute source precision of the IPN is again permitting searches for GRB afterglows in the radio and optical regimes with delays of only hours up to 2 days. The successful addition of the Mars Odyssey mission has compensated for the loss of the asteroid mission NEAR, to reconstitute a fully long- baseline interplanetary network, with Ulysses at > 5 AU and Konus-Wind and HETE-2 near the Earth. In addition to making unassisted GRB localizations that enable a renewed supply of counterpart observations, the Mars/Ulysses/Wind IPN is confirming and reinforcing GRB source localizations with HETE-2. It has also confirmed and reinforced localizations with the BeppoSAX mission before the BeppoSAX termination in May and has detected and localized both SGRs and an unusual hard x-ray transient that is neither an SGR nor a GRB. This IPN is expected to operate until at least 2004.