NASA Abandons Mission to Save Sinking Swift Space Telescope
· World · NBC News, CBS News, Reuters
NASA has officially ended its mission to rescue the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory after the rescue spacecraft, LINK, suffered repeated technical failures. Developed by Arizona-based Katalyst Space Technologies, the LINK probe was launched on July 3 to boost the observatory to a higher orbit and extend its operational life. Shortly after launch, the spacecraft experienced severe attitude control malfunctions, causing it to spin at 9 degrees per second and leading to sporadic communication. Although mission managers briefly stabilized the probe, persistent control issues ultimately forced the agency to abandon the attempt to dock with the telescope. The Swift observatory, which has been in low Earth orbit since 2004, is now expected to re-enter the atmosphere and break apart later this year.
Why it matters
The failure marks the end of a unique effort to extend the life of the Swift observatory, a critical tool for studying high-energy cosmic events like black hole births and star collisions. NASA will now focus on using the remaining LINK mission to conduct technology demonstrations for future space flight applications.
Read the original report — NBC News
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