NASA Aims to Save Swift Telescope from Crashing to Earth

NASA is engaged in a high-stakes mission to prevent the Swift space telescope, launched 22 years ago, from an uncontrolled re-entry into Earth's atmosphere later this year. The agency is employing the robotic spacecraft LINK, developed by Katalyst, to capture the orbiting observatory and gradually raise its orbit.

The LINK spacecraft, launched on July 3 from the Marshall Islands aboard a Pegasus XL rocket, is en route to rendezvous with Swift. The exact timing of the encounter remains undetermined, and the process of capturing Swift and initiating orbital maneuvers could take weeks, followed by months of gradual elevation.

“

Given that Swift's orbit is decaying rapidly, we are in a race against time, but by leveraging commercial technologies already in development, we are tackling this challenge.

Shawn Domagal-Goldman, NASA's acting director of Astrophysics, stated, "Given that Swift's orbit is decaying rapidly, we are in a race against time, but by leveraging commercial technologies already in development, we are tackling this challenge." He added that boosting Swift's orbit is more economical than replacing its capabilities with a new mission.

Capturing Swift is expected to be one of NASA's most complex maneuvers. LINK will approach Swift slowly, taking photos to determine the best grip points, as the telescope was not designed for docking. This delicate process, along with the subsequent orbital push, is anticipated to last approximately a month for the capture and several more months for the orbital adjustment. Once the telescope is repositioned, NASA plans to reactivate its instruments, a process that could take another month or longer.

“

Attempting to elevate the orbit is more economical than replacing the capabilities of Swift with a new mission.