Mission launched to rescue a falling space telescope
Summary
A small company called Katalyst Space, working with NASA and Northrop Grumman, launched a space tug named LINK to catch and boost a falling space telescope called the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory. The tug will use robotic arms to grab the telescope and push it into a higher orbit, helping it continue its mission to study powerful cosmic explosions.Key Facts
- The Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory is a $250 million space telescope launched in 2004.
- The telescope is losing altitude and would re-enter Earth's atmosphere and burn up by the end of the year without help.
- Katalyst Space built LINK, a robotic spacecraft designed to dock with and boost the telescope.
- LINK was launched on a Pegasus XL rocket dropped from Northrop Grumman’s Stargazer jet over the Marshall Islands.
- LINK uses robotic arms to latch onto a special part of the Swift telescope for reboosting.
- The tug will then use ion thrusters, which are efficient low-power engines, to raise the telescope’s orbit over about 10 to 12 weeks.
- The mission cost $30 million and was developed quickly, in just eight months.
- The Swift Observatory detects gamma ray bursts, which are very powerful cosmic explosions linked to events like supernovae and neutron star collisions.
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