NASA Cancels Its Rescue Mission for the Aging Swift Telescope
The Swift space observatory has been in operation since 2004. It specializes in gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), the most energetic electromagnetic explosions known in the universe. Its original mission was supposed to last just two years. More than two decades later, it continues to explore some of the most violent phenomena in the cosmos. Now it is nearing the end of its life.
Swift doesn’t have a propulsion system capable of significantly raising its orbit. Although it is hundreds of kilometers above the Earth’s surface, there are still atmospheric particles at that altitude that exert a small but constant drag on the satellite. With each orbit around Earth, it loses a tiny amount of energy and, little by little, altitude as well. If this process continues without intervention it will eventually reenter the atmosphere.
NASA knew that Swift had limited time left. Some models had indicated that the observatory could...
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