NASA cancels rescue mission for falling Swift telescope
The mission to rescue one of NASA's legendary space observatories was cancelled on Wednesday after the spacecraft launched to return the Swift telescope to a higher orbit encountered irreparable technical problems in space.
Consensus
- The mission to rescue the Swift space observatory was canceled.
- The Katalyst Space LINK spacecraft experienced technical problems in space.
- The Swift observatory is descending due to atmospheric drag and solar activity.
- The LINK spacecraft was launched in July to capture and raise Swift's orbit.
- The Swift observatory was launched in 2004 to study gamma-ray bursts.
- The mission aimed to raise Swift's orbit from around 347 km to 600 km.
- NASA and Katalyst Space jointly decided to cancel the capture and reboost operation.
- The Swift observatory is expected to re-enter Earth's atmosphere and burn up by the end of the year.
Points of divergence
- The LINK spacecraft began uncontrollable rotation shortly after launch and despite software updates, the rotation was only slowed but not stopped. — fontanka
- The Swift observatory lost altitude from 585 km to 360 km by 2025 due to increased solar activity. — kommersant
- The mission was the first commercial robotic mission to attempt capturing a non-serviceable spacecraft and returning it to orbit. — fontanka
- The LINK spacecraft was intended to capture Swift using three manipulators in autonomous mode. — kommersant
- The Swift observatory is valued at $500 million. — fontanka
Coverage (2 sources)
- Operation to save NASA Swift space telescope failed — Фонтанка
- NASA canceled mission to save falling orbital station SWIFT — Коммерсантъ