NASA's Swift rescue slips to late August as LINK battles its spin
Engineers make progress in stabilizing mission but push back the rendezvous date
Katalyst Space has confirmed that problems with its LINK spacecraft have delayed its attempt to rescue NASA's Swift observatory, with rendezvous now targeted for the end of August.
Katalyst disclosed the delay in an update on the spinning spacecraft. Engineers used a thruster to cut LINK's rotation rate from 9 degrees per second to approximately 4 degrees per second, with further burns planned.
Katalyst and NASA are also developing a new attitude controller suited to the spacecraft's reduced capabilities. Engineers are determining which systems remain usable and testing their plans in a simulator before trying them on the vehicle in orbit.
The trouble has pushed the targeted rendezvous to the end of August. LINK is supposed to sidle up to Swift, survey it, grapple the observatory, and carry it to a higher orbit. For now, however, Katalyst says:...
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