The Swift Observatory is nearing the end of its 22 years in orbit as the U.S. Space Force tracks its falling path and predicts it will come crashing down on or around Friday.
NASA mission chief scientist Brad Cenko said some dense tungsten components and parts of its mirrors could make it through, even as most of the 1.5-ton observatory is expected to burn up in the atmosphere.
The failed rescue attempt left Swift descending, and NASA and the Space Force are monitoring the telescope’s path as it drops without a precise landing location.
The reported assessment points to a possible debris hazard rather than a confirmed impact area, and the possible re-entry zone spans parts of Africa, Australia, India, Southeast Asia, and Central and South America.
NASA says any surviving wreckage will most likely plunge into the ocean, while the broader corridor also covers parts of Central America and South America.
What some reports left out
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NASA hired Katalyst Space to mount a rush rescue, and the company’s three-armed robot named Link launched in July but ran into trouble after it got no closer than 12 to 15 kilometres to the telescope. Link plunged back to Earth in September, and scientists then resumed observations once the rescue attempt was called off, discovering even more gamma-ray bursts and other ultra high-energy events. By late October, the telescope was too low to remain steady for observations, and mission controllers shut down its systems.
Rescue attempt launched4 of 6 outlets reported it · not in JournalArta and 1 more▾John Nousek, an astronomer who led the control team, said, “We’ve known this day would come since before Swift was launched.” Nousek added, “And that end is catastrophic,” as the Swift team mourned the loss of an observatory that delivered observations for more than two decades.
NASA says Swift’s return raises questions about whether any debris could survive the fiery descent and where it might end up, even as officials cannot yet determine a precise location.
NASA says some dense parts of the observatory, including tungsten components and portions of its mirrors, could survive and reach the surface, while most of the 1.5-ton spacecraft is expected to burn up during re-entry.
The U.S. Space Force continues to track Swift’s orbit as it descends, and the possible impact zone includes parts of Africa, Australia, India, Southeast Asia, Central America and South America.
Scripps News says NASA ended Swift’s science mission because the satellite could no longer steadily observe astronomical targets as its orbit dropped to about 171 miles above Earth’s surface.
Scripps News also says Swift delivered more than 1.5 million images and generated more than 12 terabytes of scientific data, and NASA said Swift’s discoveries contributed to about 7,000 scientific papers.