NASA races to save aging Swift telescope from falling back to Earth with daring rescue mission
Summary
NASA is launching a robotic spacecraft to save the aging Swift telescope from falling back to Earth. The mission will boost Swift to a higher orbit so it can keep observing space explosions.Key Facts
- NASA hired Katalyst Space Technologies to carry out the mission with a $30 million budget.
- The rescue spacecraft, named Link, has three arms and will be launched from an airplane using a Pegasus rocket.
- Swift has been losing altitude faster due to increased solar activity and needs a higher orbit to continue working.
- It will take about a month for Link to reach Swift and several more weeks to raise its orbit from 224 miles to 373 miles above Earth.
- NASA also worries about the Hubble Space Telescope losing altitude and plans to use a future robot to save it.
- China is the only other country to have done a similar satellite-boosting mission, which it completed four years ago.
- This operation is the first American attempt using a robotic spacecraft to service an orbiting telescope.
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