BurstCube: Calibrations

The calibration and characterization of the instrument response is a critical component to any mission as it proves that the instrument specific requirements are reached and provides the foundation for quality science. For BurstCube, the localization and spectrum of a gamma-ray burst (GRB) are derived from the instrument angular and energy response. Therefore, in order to optimize the science output of the mission, it is critical to fully describe the instrument response through accurate ground calibrations. The instrument response can be roughly predicted by simulations; however, physical tests are needed to benchmark these simulations. Therefore, simulations mimicking calibrations were performed using MEGAlib to capture particle interactions within the instrument, spacecraft, and surrounding lab environment. These validated simulations will then be used to calculate the detector response matrices (DRMs), multidimensional matrices which determine the localizations and the spectral properties of detected GRBs. We detail the BurstCube calibration and simulation efforts and provide preliminary results.