A mission to rescue NASA’s aging Swift observatory in space was canceled on Wednesday after the spacecraft that was launched to tug the satellite to a higher orbit suffered irredeemable technical issues in space, the rescue craft’s owner, Katalyst Space,…
The mission to save NASA's sinking space telescope has been called off. NASA and Katalyst Space Technologies announced the news Wednesday. The startup company says its Link spacecraft will not attempt to capture the Swift Observatory and boost it to a higher orbit because of problems with controllin…
A rendering of the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory. Image: NASA NASA is calling off an attempt to save a space observatory falling out of orbit, dooming it to a fiery death in Earth's atmosphere. Why it matters: The Swift Boost Mission was an ambitious effort to rescue the Neil Gehrels Swift Observat…
By Ashley Strickland, CNN (CNN) — A satellite called LINK that recently launched to boost the orbit of a falling space observatory won’t be able to carry out its daring rescue mission after all. NASA’s decades-old Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory is steadily losing altitude and in danger of reentering…
By Ashley Strickland, CNN (CNN) — A satellite called LINK that recently launched to boost the orbit of a falling space observatory won’t be able to carry out its daring rescue mission after all. NASA’s decades-old Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory is steadily losing altitude and in danger of reentering…
NASA announced Wednesday that it was calling off a multimillion-dollar mission to rescue its aging Swift telescope before it reenters Earth’s atmosphere, citing difficulties controlling the spacecraft’s altitude.
The space agency’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, which studied cataclysmic cosmic explosions, is expected to burn up in Earth’s atmosphere later this year
NASA said on Wednesday a $30 million mission to save its Swift space telescope had failed after the rescue spacecraft could not be controlled. The unprecedented effort aimed to use a robot to move Swift into a higher orbit.
“This is not the outcome we were working toward, but it does not change why this mission was worth attempting," NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said in a statement.
NASA is calling off a mission to save the Swift telescope, which is set to plunge into Earth's atmosphere and burn up later this year. CBS News' space consultant Bill Harwood chimes in.
The mission to rescue NASA's Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory space telescope may be in need of some rescuing itself. Due to multiple malfunctions in the LINK spacecraft's attitude control system, space engineers have decided to abandon the boost attempt.
