NASA's Swift telescope will plunge toward Earth after rescue mission called off
The mission to save NASA's sinking Swift Observatory was called off Wednesday, dooming the telescope to a fiery reentry later this year.
TL;DR
- The mission to save NASA's Swift Observatory has been called off.
- The rescue spacecraft, Link, experienced control problems and will not attempt to boost Swift's orbit.
- Swift Observatory will undergo a fiery reentry into Earth's atmosphere later this year after over 20 years of operation.
- NASA paid $30 million for the rescue attempt to counteract altitude loss due to intense solar activity.
- Katalyst Space Technologies, the company behind Link, will continue to use the spacecraft to demonstrate future rescue capabilities.
- Swift Observatory was launched in 2004 and has been instrumental in tracking gamma-ray bursts and exploding stars.
- NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, also experiencing orbital decay, might have been next in line for a rescue attempt if this mission had succeeded.