NASA launches robotic mission to save aging space telescope from Earth's atmosphere

NASA is undertaking an unprecedented robotic mission to save its Swift space telescope from burning up in Earth's atmosphere. The observatory, launched in 2004, is rapidly descending due to increased atmospheric drag caused by recent solar storms.

A three-armed spacecraft named Link, developed by Katalyst Space Technologies, has been launched from the Marshall Islands. It will travel to the Swift telescope, capture it, and boost its orbit. This complex operation is expected to take several months, with the goal of returning Swift to its scanning duties by September.

The mission, costing NASA $30 million, aims to raise Swift's altitude by 240 kilometers, restoring it to its original operational orbit. This salvage effort could set a precedent for extending the life of other aging satellites, including potentially NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, which is also experiencing increased drag. Without this intervention, Swift was predicted to crash to Earth in October.

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This is a high-risk, high-reward mission. The biggest danger was always we don't launch anything and we let Swift burn up in the atmosphere. So we were always trying to avoid that risk, and our team has done that.