Picture courtesy of Spectrum Astro

Swift is partly a 'spare parts' satellite, having been made cheaply from left-over bits from earlier projects. Examples of this include two major parts of the X-ray telescope: the X-ray CCD in the Leicester-supplied X-ray camera (which is a duplicate of an XMM EPIC MOS CCD), and the X-ray mirrors, which are from the Italian Jet-X project (see these pictures); and the UV/optical telescope, which is also a near XMM duplicate. Leicester has also supplied the optical XRT telescope alignment monitor, designed to ensure that the GRB X-ray positions promptly distributed have the best possible positional accuracy.

Leicester has naturally played a significant role in calibrating the XRT, and this continues in orbit; Leicester scientists characterise the 'spectral response',  of the CCD  as it
evolves in the harsh radiation environment of space. Leicester also hosts the UK Swift Science Data Centre, providing fast and easy access for UK astronomers to the rapidly evolving data, as well as Swift data analysis training for anyone who wants it, and software services to the Swift project.