NASA’s Swift telescope is set to burn up in the atmosphere after nearly 22 years in orbit — Dawn

NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift space observatory was due to enter Earth’s atmosphere on Wednesday after nearly 22 years of operation in orbit. The spacecraft, weighing about 1,452 kilograms, was expected to burn up over tropical regions, while debris that may survive atmospheric entry was unlikely to pose a threat to populated areas.

Re-entry forecast

According to Dawn, the U.S. Space Force estimated the probability of harm to a person on Earth at one in 2,100. NASA forecast re-entry at approximately 03:30 U.S. Eastern Time, or 08:30 GMT. The Aerospace Corporation suggested it would occur at 05:19 U.S. Eastern Time, with a two-hour margin of error.

Astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell, an emeritus professor at Durham University’s Centre for Space Research, citing updated U.S. Space Force data, called around 07:45 U.S. Eastern Time the most likely time of atmospheric entry. According to him, Swift was travelling in a nearly circular orbit at the edge of the atmosphere, and the key question was when the spacecraft would heat up enough to begin breaking apart.

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Failed rescue mission

The observatory had no propulsion system of its own and had been approaching the expected end of its mission for several months, travelling at a speed of about 27,359 kilometres per hour. In July, NASA and Arizona startup Katalyst launched a special spacecraft, LINK, which was intended to approach Swift, attach to it and raise the telescope to a higher orbit.

However, shortly after launch, LINK began spinning uncontrollably. In mid-August, mission managers ended the attempt to save the observatory. Katalyst said it had designed, built and tested the spacecraft in nine months under a $30 million NASA contract.

More than two decades of observations

Swift was launched in 2004 to study gamma-ray bursts, the most powerful known explosions in the Universe. The $500 million multiwavelength observatory had three telescopes. Its primary mission was initially planned for two years, but the spacecraft operated much longer, also observing galaxies with supermassive black holes, stars with X-ray flares, comets and asteroids.