NASA launches mission to save falling space telescope

NASA has launched a mission aimed at preventing a space telescope from falling back to Earth, deploying a privately built spacecraft designed to intercept and potentially rescue the ageing observatory.

The Swift space telescope, which detects some of the most energetic events in the universe, is gradually losing altitude and could re-enter Earth’s atmosphere in the coming months due to increased solar activity expanding the planet’s upper atmosphere, Caliber.Az reports, citing the BBC.

The newly launched LINK spacecraft, funded by NASA and developed by Katalyst Space Technologies of Arizona, is designed to rendezvous with Swift and attempt an unprecedented capture using three robotic arms. If successful, it will then raise the telescope back into a stable orbit.

Scientists say the mission is highly experimental. Dr Simeon Barber, a space scientist at the Open University, described it as “high risk,” while noting its scientific importance.

“But Nasa obviously thinks it's worth a go. And the science community is hopeful about this because it's an important telescope that enables us to study super high-energy phenomena that we have no other means to study,” he said.

Swift, launched in 2004, was originally placed in orbit at around 373 miles (600 km) above Earth but has now dropped to approximately 220 miles (360 km). Increased solar activity has expanded Earth’s atmosphere at higher altitudes, creating drag that is gradually pulling the telescope downward.

Although satellites frequently burn up on re-entry, Swift is considered uniquely valuable for studying gamma-ray bursts and other extreme cosmic events linked to the deaths of massive stars and stellar collisions.

The LINK spacecraft, roughly the size of a refrigerator and equipped with cameras, sensors and thrusters, will spend several weeks calibrating its systems before attempting to approach the telescope. Engineers expect it to reach Swift within three to four weeks, depending on orbital changes.

Once alongside, LINK will carefully manoeuvre around the telescope to identify suitable attachment points before attempting to grapple it with its robotic arms. Engineers note that Swift was never designed for in-orbit capture, making the operation especially complex.

If the capture succeeds, LINK will slowly raise Swift’s orbit over the course of two to three months, gradually lifting it back toward its original altitude in a controlled manoeuvre.

“It will be a very slow, graceful lift, not a sudden boost to a higher orbit,” Barber noted.

The mission marks the first attempt of its kind and, if successful, could pave the way for future rescue operations, including possible interventions to save other ageing spacecraft such as the Hubble Space Telescope.

By Bakhtiyar Abbasov