Science & Tech · Space · 6 hrs ago
NASA’s Swift telescope expected to re-enter after failed rescue attempt
NASA’s Swift Observatory is expected to fall back to Earth around Friday after 22 years in orbit.
It launched in 2004 to detect powerful cosmic events, including gamma-ray bursts and supernovas.
Solar activity lowered its orbit faster than usual, leaving it too low to stay steady for observations by late October.
NASA hired Katalyst Space to try to save it, but the company’s Link robot came no closer than 12 to 15 kilometres before falling back to Earth in September.
The rescue attempt failed, and Swift’s systems were shut down after it resumed observations for a time.
Most of the telescope is expected to burn up, though some dense parts could survive; any debris is most likely to land in the ocean, but several regions around the world are within the re-entry zone.
Swift detected more than 2,000 gamma-ray bursts and 1,400 exploding stars, and its alerts helped other telescopes investigate events in greater detail.
Scientists are working out how to fill the gap left by the telescope’s end.
The U.S. Space Force predicts NASA’s Swift Observatory will re-enter Earth’s atmosphere on or around Friday after a rescue attempt failed.
Most of the 1½-ton telescope is expected to burn up, though some tungsten and mirror parts could survive.
The telescope spent 22 years in orbit observing gamma ray bursts and other high-energy events.
Swift’s systems were shut down by late October after it became too low to remain steady for observations.
- Who
- NASA’s Swift Observatory, an aging space telescope.
- What
- It is expected to re-enter Earth’s atmosphere after a failed rescue attempt.
- When
- On or around Friday; the sources do not give an exact re-entry time.
- Where
- Earth’s atmosphere. The possible re-entry zone includes parts of Africa, Australia, India, Southeast Asia, and Central and South America.
- Why
- Intense solar activity dragged the telescope lower than usual, and the rescue attempt did not reach it.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Swift blasted off to search for gamma ray bursts and supernovas.
NASA hired Katalyst Space to mount a rescue attempt.
The company’s robot Link launched but did not get closer than 12 to 15 kilometres to Swift.
Link plunged back to Earth.
Swift was too low to remain steady for observations, and its systems were shut down.
The U.S. Space Force predicts Swift will re-enter Earth’s atmosphere.
- Time in orbit
- 22 years
- Launch date
- Nov. 20, 2004
- Rescue robot
- Link, a three-armed robot built by Katalyst Space
- Closest reported approach
- 12 to 15 kilometres from Swift
- Final observations
- More than 2,000 gamma ray bursts and 1,400 exploding stars
3 sources
What people are saying
We’ve known this day would come since before Swift was launched. At least in low-Earth orbit, what goes up must come down. And that end is catastrophic.
Our fervent hope is that the lessons learned by the successes of Swift can be applied to new generations of space missions to accelerate our discoveries about the universe.