NASA's Swift Observatory Scheduled for Atmospheric Re-entry
After 22 years in orbit, NASA's Swift Observatory is expected to re-enter Earth's atmosphere on Wednesday. The aging space telescope, which was originally designed for a two-year mission to study gamma-ray bursts, entered a lower orbit following solar storms. Attempts to boost the spacecraft into a higher orbit were unsuccessful due to technical issues with the Link rescue spacecraft. The observatory weighs approximately 3,200 pounds and measures roughly 5.6 meters in height. While NASA expects most of the spacecraft to burn up during re-entry, some components may survive. However, the agency estimates the risk of harm to people on Earth is very low, at approximately 1 in 2,100, as surviving fragments are likely to land within a specific latitudinal range.
Topics: NASA Satellite Decommissioning Spacecraft Re-entry Swift Observatory