NASA launched an emergency mission to stop the Swift Observatory from crashing to Earth
NASA has contracted Katalyst Space Technologies to perform an emergency orbital boost for the aging Swift Observatory. The $30 million mission aims to prevent the satellite from burning up in the atmosphere due to orbital decay caused by solar storms.
The Swift Observatory was launched in 2004, but recent solar storms have pushed its orbit lower, and it’s in danger of burning up in Earth’s atmosphere as soon as this year. To try and stave off its demise, NASA has enlisted Katalyst Space Technologies. The company’s Link spacecraft launched Friday with the goal of intercepting Swift, which has no propulsion system, and boosting its orbit back to its original position. Right now, Swift is circling at an altitude of 224 miles, and Link is aiming to raise that by about 150 miles.
Get the full story
Sign up for Headlinne to unlock AI insights, political bias analysis, and your personalized news feed.
Create free accountAlready have an account? Sign in