NASA is preparing a first-of-its-kind mission to rescue the aging Swift space telescope from orbital decay and extend its scientific life by years.
NASA is pulling off what sounds like a Hollywood space plot — saving a falling telescope before it crashes back to Earth.
According to USA Today, NASA and Arizona-based Katalyst Space Technologies are preparing the groundbreaking “Swift Boost” mission to rescue the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, which has been studying powerful gamma-ray bursts since 2004. The telescope remains fully operational, but decades of atmospheric drag and increased solar activity have pushed it closer to Earth, threatening a fiery re-entry.
Enter Link, a robotic servicing spacecraft designed to rendezvous with Swift, dock with the observatory and raise it into a safer orbit. If successful, it would mark the first time a private spacecraft captures and services a robotic U.S. government satellite in orbit.
The mission is scheduled to launch later this month aboard a Pegasus XL rocket and could extend Swift’s life by at least five years, allowing it to continue unlocking the secrets of the universe.
NASA officials say the operation was developed in just months and represents a major leap forward for future satellite-servicing missions.
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