The lifting will not be attempted.
As ever, safety comes first, and if anything were to go wrong with grappling — and/or then firing the rocket engines while holding the Swift Space telescope, this whole shooting match could end up crashing into other satellites and causing a chain reaction of global proportions. Understandably, that risk has been judged as not worth the return, here — by wiser heads, at NASA.
So Swift will be allowed to burn up in the atmosphere later this year in 2026. Here’s the latest from NASA, tonight:
. . .Due to an ongoing commercial spacecraft attitude control issue, NASA and Katalyst Space announced Wednesday the LINK spacecraft will not capture or boost an agency satellite to a higher altitude to extend its science mission as planned. . . .
“We knew this was a high-risk, high-reward mission – a first-of-its kind attempt, developed on an unprecedented timeline driven by the Sun’s activity,” said Shawn Domagal-Goldman, director, Astrophysics Division, NASA Headquarters in Washington. “We were all hoping for more science from Swift. But we knew the takeaways from this mission would be worthwhile either way, and we have gained so much through the series of accomplishments up to this point. . . .”
Without intervention, NASA anticipates Swift is likely to re-enter Earth’s atmosphere later this year. As part of the agency’s previous planning for Swift’s end of life, NASA will continue to prioritize finding new options to react rapidly to cosmic events, using current missions to help fill the gap in the meantime. . . .
In happier news, my nearly 92 year-old mother got to witness a rainbow below her feet as we stared over a cliff at over 14,000 feet of elevation this afternoon. It’s really something to be above the clouds and see a rainbow arc below your feet — grin.
नमस्ते
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