NASA, Katalyst call off SWIFT rescue mission over issues with rescue craft in space
The failed mission leaves Swift on course to burn up later this year and gives NASA data for future satellite servicing efforts.
- On Wednesday, NASA called off the mission to rescue the sinking Swift Observatory, dooming the telescope to a fiery atmospheric reentry later this year.
- Katalyst Space Technologies' Link spacecraft entered an uncontrollable spin weeks after its July launch, with persistent pointing and positioning issues eventually forcing the mission's cancellation.
- NASA paid $30 million to Katalyst to raise the telescope to a safer orbit; Swift has tracked universe explosions for more than 20 years before this setback.
- Katalyst CEO Ghonhee Lee said "we have already learned a tremendous amount," and the company will keep Link in orbit near Swift to demonstrate future rescue capabilities.
- NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman called the mission "worth attempting" despite the cancellation, while the 36-year-old Hubble Space Telescope also faces orbital decay from solar outbursts.
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World’s First Rescue of a Falling Space Telescope Fails, Swift to Crash and Burn by the End of 2026
The saga of a piece of space hardware called the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory will not continue past the end of this year. Having already exceeded its expected operational life many times over, the space telescope became not long ago the target of a daring, world-first rescue mission that sadly failed earlier this week. The instrument, initially called the (continue reading...)
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NASA Abandons Swift Rescue as Private Spacecraft Fails to Overcome Orbit Control Woes
NASA pulled the plug on its audacious bid to save the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory. The decision came Wednesday after weeks of persistent attitude control failures aboard the private LINK spacecraft built to grab the aging gamma-ray telescope and shove it into a higher, safer orbit. Swift now faces an uncontrolled plunge through Earth’s atmosphere later this year. No replacement stands ready. The news landed with a thud across the astrophysics…
NASA's efforts to save its 22-year-old Swift space telescope have suffered a major setback. The LINK spacecraft, which launched it into a higher orbit, lost control due to a technical malfunction. Swift is now at increased risk of falling to Earth.
On paper, it seems simple. To save an important telescope from destruction, you launch another satellite. With big arms, you then grab the telescope by the scruff of the neck and put it back into a good orbit around the Earth. However, practice proves to be somewhat more stubborn for space agency NASA. For by now, the rescue satellite has become partially uncontrollable, and with every orbit around the Earth, the telescope seems to be getting a …
The mission to save the Swift space telescope has failed, reports the American space agency NASA. A space robot from the American start-up Katalyst was supposed to grab the aging device and push it into a higher orbit, but failed to do so. The telescope now faces its final demise in the Earth's atmosphere.
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