Huge space telescope plunges back to Earth after 22 years in orbit
NASA had previously said much of the observatory burned up upon reentry. The risk to people on Earth was low, the agency said.
The Swift Observatory, a 1.5-ton NASA telescope that has been orbiting Earth for over two decades, has reentered the planet's atmosphere and is set to crash back to Earth after an attempt to rescue it failed earlier this year. Located in low-Earth orbit, the telescope was launched on November 20, 2004, with a mission to detect massive galactic explosions such as gamma-ray bursts and supernovas.
Initially designed for a two-year mission, the Swift Observatory continued its operations until late October when NASA decided it was too low to maintain stability.
Despite efforts to rescue the telescope in July using a three-armed robot named Link, the operation was unsuccessful as the robot could not reach the telescope within a seven-mile radius. The robot fell back to Earth in September. In an effort to avoid any potential harm to people on Earth, NASA estimates the risk of injury to be approximately 1 in 2,100.
Much of the Swift Observatory is expected to burn up upon reentry, but some components may survive and be found scattered across the North Sumatra region of Indonesia. Throughout its lifetime, the observatory has observed over 2,000 gamma-ray bursts and 1,400 exploding stars, serving as a first responder for the Hubble and Webb space telescopes.
NASA has acknowledged that while its contributions to our understanding of cosmic objects and events have been invaluable, replacing the Swift Observatory's work will be a challenging task.
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