'We are not giving up yet': Private mission to rescue NASA's Swift telescope is spinning out of control, and engineers are racing to fix it
Katalyst Space's LINK spacecraft is recovering from an unexpected spin in orbit, and will need a little more time to rescue NASA's falling Swift observatory.
A private mission to rescue NASA's aging Swift Observatory, carried out by the Katalyst Space company, is facing unexpected challenges. The LINK spacecraft, which was launched on July 3, is spinning faster than anticipated due to power issues affecting its orientation control system. This has led engineers to delay the mission, with the earliest possible rendezvous with Swift now set for late August.
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman stated, "We are not giving up yet," emphasizing the mission's potential and the ongoing efforts to stabilize the spacecraft and successfully capture Swift before it falls back to Earth. Swift, currently valued at around $450 million, is a crucial asset in detecting gamma-ray bursts and other stellar changes, and its extended mission could provide valuable scientific observations for years to come.
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