NASA's 613-Kilogram Swift Telescope Faces Uncontrolled Reentry After $30 Million Rescue Fails
Updated
Updated · Space.com · Aug 27
NASA's 613-Kilogram Swift Telescope Faces Uncontrolled Reentry After $30 Million Rescue Fails
3 articles · Updated · Space.com · Aug 27
Summary
Swift is not expected to reenter before October, NASA said, after the 2004 observatory was left in a decaying orbit with its science mission finished.
Attitude-control problems crippled Katalyst Space Technologies' LINK spacecraft after its July 3 launch, forcing NASA and the company to abandon the reboost mission.
Most of the 613-kilogram telescope should burn up in the atmosphere, but experts said optical lenses, titanium tanks and parts of its X-ray or optical instruments could survive.
Swift could come down anywhere between 21 degrees north and 21 degrees south, though experts said debris is most likely to fall into the ocean and the casualty risk remains low.
The failed rescue also highlights a broader concern: uncontrolled satellite and rocket reentries are becoming more common, raising the long-term chance of debris hitting people on the ground.
As NASA's Swift Observatory plummets toward an uncontrolled reentry, who will be held responsible if its surviving titanium tanks strike a populated area?
After twenty years of decoding cosmic explosions, why did a robotic spin issue seal the fiery fate of NASA's legendary Swift telescope?
With the $30 million rescue mission failed, what hidden vulnerabilities in commercial satellite servicing could doom our efforts to clean up space debris?