NASA’s Swift telescope is running out of time as critical October deadline approaches
NASA is working off borrowed time, but the telescope is up and running for now.
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After a mission to save the Swift telescope experienced a major setback, NASA announced they will take a step back in their efforts to adjust the telescope's altitude above Earth.
Officials and Katalyst Space had tried to make history by repositioning the Swift observatory higher into space by using a robotic satellite called LINK.
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According to NASA and Katalyst, LINK will not proceed with the original mission due to recent setbacks and has shifted to demonstrating "rendezvous technologies for in-space servicing."
Photo of NASA's Swift satellite. (NASA)
One of LINK's main issues is that it has developed problems controlling its orientation, which is crucial because drag from Earth's atmosphere in low orbit would gradually reduce its altitude.
This is similar to the issue with Swift, and it's why experts are trying to elevate it back higher into space.
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In light of this, NASA has shifted to low-drag operations, which the agency says has extended the telescope's time above 185 miles until October.
Below this point, operating the telescope becomes difficult and the spacecraft's rate of descent rapidly increases, according to NASA.
This picture shows a regions captured by a telescope aboard the Swift satellite of a region 200,00 light years wide. (NASA/Swift/Stefan Immler (GSFC) and Erin Grand (UMCP))
As a result, NASA is essentially working off borrowed time because of drag, but it's up and running for now.
This is the maximum time they have to recover or adjust the telescope before it falls below a critical operating altitude.
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Over the last 21 years, the Swift telescope has been NASA's multitool for studying the cosmos, the agency said.