NASA's Swift Telescope Resumes Observations After Failed Orbital Rescue
NASA has reactivated two of Swift's three science instruments following the abandonment of a planned orbit-boost mission, while the telescope is expected to re-enter Earth's atmosphere within months.
NASA re-enabled the X-ray Telescope (XRT) and Ultraviolet/Optical Telescope (UVOT) on the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory on Aug. 26, after the instruments were shut down in February to reduce atmospheric drag. The Burst Alert Telescope (BAT) remains offline but is slated to resume operations in the coming weeks, NASA said.
The restart comes after the agency dropped plans to raise Swift's orbit using LINK, a robotic servicing spacecraft built by Katalyst Space. LINK, launched on July 3, experienced attitude-control failures that prevented it from capturing Swift. Engineers stabilized the vehicle, but on Aug. 19 NASA and Katalyst announced that LINK would only conduct proximity operations, leaving Swift without the intended boost.
Swift, launched in 2004 for a two-year gamma-ray burst mission, has operated for more than two decades, detecting transient events across gamma-ray, X-ray, ultraviolet and visible wavelengths and issuing alerts to other observatories. Because the spacecraft lacks its own propulsion, increased solar activity has expanded Earth's upper atmosphere, accelerating orbital decay.
NASA's low-drag configuration was expected to keep Swift above roughly 185 miles (300 km) until October. With the boost cancelled, officials anticipate the telescope will dip below that altitude within one to two months and likely re-enter the atmosphere later this year, burning up for the most part.
"Over the last 21 years, Swift has been NASA's multitool for studying the cosmos," the agency said in a statement.
The observatory will continue scientific observations until its orbit decays, providing valuable data on fleeting cosmic phenomena.