Feasibility of a Small, Rapid Optical-to-IR Response, Next Generation   Gamma Ray Burst Mission
  We present motivations for and study feasibility of a small, rapid optical to IR response gamma ray burst (GRB) space observatory. By analyzing existing GRB data, we give realistic detection rates for X-ray and optical/IR instruments of modest size under actual flight conditions. Given new capabilities of fast optical/IR response (about 1 s to target) and simultaneous multi-band imaging, such an observatory can have a reasonable event rate, likely leading to new science. Requiring a Swift-like orbit, duty cycle, and observing constraints, a Swift-BAT scaled down to 190 square cm of detector area would still detect and locate about 27 GRB per yr. for a trigger threshold of 6.5 sigma. About 23 percent of X-ray located GRB would be detected optically for a 10 cm diameter instrument (about 6 per yr. for the 6.5 sigma X-ray trigger). 
B. Grossan (1,2), G.F. Smoot (1,4), V.V. Bogomolov (1), S. I.   Svertilov (1), N. N. Vedenkin (1), M. Panasyuk (1), B. Gonch...
astro-ph.HE astro-ph.IM