A spacecraft sent to rescue a NASA telescope from a fiery death had some issues of its own, and it looked like all hope was lost. That was until engineers figured out a way to save the spacecraft designed to save another spacecraft.<\/p>\n
LINK, the servicing spacecraft developed by contractor Katalyst Space Technologies, experienced issues with attitude control<\/a> in late July that caused it to spin uncontrollably. The loss of attitude control jeopardized the mission\u2019s ability to capture NASA\u2019s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory and boost it to a higher orbit. Thankfully, the company may have found a fix. <\/p>\n Katalyst Space uploaded a flight software update for LINK, which is designed to stabilize the spacecraft so that it can continue its approach toward Swift, the space agency shared in an update<\/a>. The team of engineers will continue to monitor the spacecraft\u2019s performance as they begin a series of burns and maneuvers in the coming days to align LINK\u2019s orbit with Swift.<\/p>\n Double rescue <\/p>\n LINK took off on July 3<\/a> onboard a converted Lockheed L-1011 aircraft from Kwajalein Atoll in the South Pacific. The spacecraft was then launched into space from an altitude of 7.6 miles (12.2 kilometers) using a Northrop Grumman Pegasus XL rocket.<\/p>\n The mission was going according to plan until two of LINK\u2019s three reaction wheels experienced a failure. Reaction wheels control a spacecraft\u2019s orientation and stabilize its rotation using electric motors to discharge momentum. While the spacecraft\u2019s other systems remained healthy, the failure caused LINK to tumble while in orbit and resulted in sporadic communications.<\/p>\n Engineers at Katalyst raced against the clock to recover the spacecraft in time for its planned rendezvous with Swift. They first used LINK\u2019s plasma engines to gradually slow its spin, pointing the thrusters in the opposite direction of the rotation rate, Ars Technica reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n Once the spacecraft was in a more stable configuration, the engineers were able to upload a software update with new attitude control algorithms designed to maintain LINK\u2019s stability using its remaining actuators, according to NASA.<\/p>\n