French-Chinese probe to chase universe's biggest explosions

The French-Chinese probe Space Variable Objects Monitor (SVOM) is scheduled to blast off on a Chinese Long March 2C rocket from the Xichang launch site in China's Sichuan province on Saturday.

The SVOM telescope satellite is on a mission to hunt down gamma-ray bursts, the most powerful explosions in the universe. The main challenge is that gamma-ray bursts are extremely brief, leaving scientists in a race against time to gather information.

Once it detects a burst, SVOM will send an alert to a team on duty around the clock.Within five minutes, they will have to rev up a network of telescopes on the ground that will align precisely with the axis of the burst's source to make more detailed observations.