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ScienceQuiet 6d · day 13

NASA's Swift telescope set to fall to Earth after failed robotic rescue

The U.S. Space Force predicts the 22-year-old gamma-ray telescope will reenter the atmosphere around Friday after a robotic repair mission failed to save it.

newest coverage 6d agosummary written 8d ago59 pieces Google NewsNewswiresMastodonReddit

What to know

  • The Swift Observatory, launched in 2004, is predicted by the U.S. Space Force to reenter Earth's atmosphere on or around Friday after 22 years in orbit.
  • A NASA-funded rescue by Katalyst Space's robot Link failed in 2026, with the robot never getting closer than 7-9 miles to the telescope before itself falling to Earth in September.
  • Most of the 1.5-ton spacecraft will burn up, but dense tungsten and mirror pieces could survive; surviving debris will most likely fall into the ocean, though parts of Africa, Australia, India, Southeast Asia, and Central/South America lie within the reentry zone.
  • Over its mission, Swift detected more than 2,000 gamma ray bursts and 1,400 exploding stars, and NASA is still working out how to fill the observational gap it leaves.

“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.”

John Nousek, Penn State astronomer, Swift control team lead · AP News (via Philadelphia Inquirer) ↗ · Oct 30

John Nousek Penn State astronomer, led Swift control teamBrad Cenko NASA, Swift mission chief scientistKatalyst Space Private company hired by NASA for rescue missionU.S. Space Force Tracks orbital debris and reentry predictions

NASA's Swift telescope set to fall to Earth after failed robotic rescue
space.com

How it unfolded 1 development · click the chart to see its coverage articlesposts

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  1. 1

    Space Force predicts Swift reentry around Friday

    The U.S. Space Force forecasts Swift will reenter the atmosphere on or around Friday; most of the telescope will burn up, though dense tungsten and mirror components could survive, likely falling into the ocean, with Africa, Australia, India, Southeast Asia, and Central/South America within the reentry zone.

    “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.”
    — John Nousek
    1. 31 outlets NASA telescope predicted to come crashing down after failed rescue mission

      first by AP News, 8d ago · also Newsweek, ITVX, Globe and Mail, The Hindu, CBC, Global News +24

      13 more headlines
    2. 6 outlets The Swift Space Telescope Is About To Fall Down To Earth. Its Science Will Be Used For Decades To Come

      first by IFLScience, 9d ago · also Interesting Engineering, The Daily Beast, Independent UK, Space, Hindustan Times

      6 more headlines

    • It's unclear at the moment exactly when and where the Swift observatory will plunge to Earth. But researchers definitely have their eyes peeled. View article View summary #^ NASA's Swift space telescope is about to crash to Earth. Where will it fall? NASA's Swift space telescope is expected to crash back to Earth in the next few days. The Neil…

      spaceinfo@libera.siteMastodon7d agoview on Mastodon ↗
    2 more of the top 3 · 5 posts in this stretch

    • They will probably crash it at the Nemo Point in the Pacific Ocean they did it before with other large spacecrafts like the Russian 🇷🇺 station Mir and they will also do it with the ISS in 2031

      Far-Pass4838r/space6d agoview on r/space ↗
    • Mathrubhumi_English@mastodon.social

      After nearly 22 years studying some of the universe's most powerful explosions, NASA's Swift Observatory is approaching a fiery end. A failed robotic rescue mission has left the 1.5-tonne telescope falling towards Earth, with reentry expected around Friday. https:// english.mathrubhumi.com/news/w…

      Mathrubhumi_English@mastodon.socialMastodon8d agoview on Mastodon ↗
    all of them →
  2. background

    Swift resumes brief observations before shutdown — After the rescue attempt ended, Swift resumed observations and discovered more gamma ray bursts and ultrahigh-energy events, but by late October it was too low to remain steady, and its systems were shut down.

  3. background

    Rescue robot Link falls back to Earth, mission scrapped — The failed rescue attempt was called off and Link itself plunged back to Earth in September, leaving Swift to continue its uncontrolled orbital decay.

  4. background

    Robot Link launches to attempt Swift repair/rescue — Katalyst Space's three-armed robot, named Link, launched to approach and service Swift but ran into trouble and never got closer than 7 to 9 miles (12 to 15 kilometers) to the telescope.

  5. background

    NASA hires Katalyst Space for a rush rescue of Swift — After intense solar activity over several years dragged Swift's orbit down faster than expected, NASA hired Katalyst Space about a year before the telescope's reentry to attempt a rescue.

  6. background

    Swift Observatory launches to study cosmic explosions — NASA's Swift blasted off to search for gamma ray bursts, supernovas and other high-energy cosmic events, serving for years as a first responder that alerted Hubble and Webb to erupting events.

Also covered reported alongside — the timeline has no entry for these yet

  1. 1 outlet NASA’s Swift Observatory Expected to Burn Up in Atmospheric Reentry Following Failed Commercial Rescue

    first by SatNews Publishers, 7d ago

    1 more headline

and 1 smaller piece

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