NASA's Swift Observatory Could Fall to Earth Within Weeks

Things are not looking good for a celebrated NASA observatory. Here is a look at the inevitable demise of this long-serving telescope and the failed attempt to rescue it from its free fall.

Swift Space Telescope Falling Out of Orbit

An iconic space telescope is falling out of orbit and heading toward Earth, despite last-ditch attempts to rescue it. The Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory is likely weeks away from plummeting to Earth after a rescue mission designed to boost its orbit failed.

It has been nearly 22 years since Swift was launched into space to collect data. The astrophysics multi-tool telescope was originally engineered to observe explosions known as gamma-ray bursts; however, Swift has been used to collect data for other purposes as well.

The observatory weighs a whopping 3,200 pounds and is currently orbiting roughly 200 miles above Earth. Scientists warn that it will become increasingly difficult to operate the telescope once it dips to 185 miles, expected to happen by the middle of October. NASA believes that Swift will fall out of its orbit at this time and dive through the atmosphere on its way back to Earth.

Is there anything to worry about as the large observatory comes hurtling back into the atmosphere and toward the ground? Space-tracking company LeoLabs said that “While it’s possible some hardware from the Swift spacecraft may survive re-entry due to its size, the probability of debris causing significant property damage or physical harm to anyone is very small. More likely, as is the case with most debris that survives re-entry, it will fall into the ocean or on land that’s uninhabited.”

Details of Failed Rescue Mission and What is Next

Arizona-based Katalyst Space Technologies built and launched a satellite called LINK in an effort to rescue the Swift telescope and nudge it back into a stable orbit. Katalyst launched LINK in early July, failing in just a few weeks. Both NASA and Katalyst say that while the mission was not a success on paper, they were able to learn things that can be applied to future operations.

After the failure, Katalyst decided to proceed with a modified mission designed to serve as a demonstration instead of the originally intended rescue. LINK came within 7.5 to 9 miles of Swift in early September, helping engineers to practice different approaches. Katalyst confirmed that its satellite was in space for 85 days before coming back to Earth on September 25.

“LINK was built to take on a problem that did not have an easy solution,” said Ghonhee Lee, CEO of Katalyst Space. Lee went on to say, “While we did not accomplish every objective we set out to achieve, in less than a year we went from mission concept to launching and operating the first commercial space robot. This is a foundation we can build on.”

Unfortunately for space enthusiasts, NASA does not have an observational replacement equipped to replace Swift in the near future. Now that it has become apparent that Swift is in its final days, scientists have been activating its instruments in order to continue to collect data and make observations until it can no longer operate.

This last gasp is accelerating the demise of the famed telescope. NASA engineers had previously turned off the telescope's instruments for months in an effort to slow its orbital decay.

Despite the imminent end of this telescope's work, S. Bradley Cenko, Swift’s principal investigator at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, said that Swift's namesake "would have celebrated that this boost effort was part of Swift’s legacy, that it allowed NASA to try something new and daring even though the outcome wasn’t guaranteed.”

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