NASA's Swift space telescope re-enters atmosphere over Indonesia
The 22-year-old Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory ended its mission on Wednesday after a failed rescue attempt to extend its orbit.
The Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory re-entered Earth's atmosphere over the North Sumatra province in Indonesia on Wednesday, according to News18. The 1,452 kg spacecraft was travelling at approximately 22 times the speed of sound during its descent.
The space telescope, which was launched in 2004, had been operating for 22 years. Originally designed for a two-year mission to study gamma-ray bursts, the observatory also observed supermassive black holes, X-ray flares, comets, asteroids, and supernovae.
The re-entry occurred less than three months after a failed rescue mission. NASA and Arizona-based startup Katalyst had attempted to save the observatory in July by launching a robotic spacecraft called LINK. The mission aimed to attach LINK to Swift to push it into a higher orbit, but the spacecraft began spinning uncontrollably, leading mission managers to abandon the attempt in mid-August.
NASA expected most of the observatory to burn up due to frictional heat, though it warned some components could survive. The US Space Force had estimated the risk of harm to anyone on Earth at approximately one in 2,100. No damage or injuries were reported on the ground.
The observatory stopped operating on October 20 following months of declining orbital stability. During its lifespan, the telescope contributed to around 7,000 scientific research papers.