Nasa's 22-year-old Swift satellite telescope falls from orbit in fiery finale
WASHINGTON: Nasa’s Swift satellite telescope, which spent two decades studying the most powerful known blasts of energy in the cosmos, tumbled out of orbit as expected on Wednesday and burned up in Earth’s atmosphere over Indonesia, the space agency reported.
Nasa's 22-year-old Swift satellite telescope has fallen from orbit and burned up in Earth's atmosphere over Indonesia, as expected. The Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, which spent two decades studying powerful cosmic blasts, crashed into the upper atmosphere at about 22 times the speed of sound over North Sumatra province, roughly 200 miles north of the equator.
Despite a failed rescue mission in July, the satellite's re-entry occurred at 7.39am EST, with Nasa confirming that most of the spacecraft would incinerate above Earth's surface, with some fragments potentially surviving the plunge. No damage or injuries on the ground were reported, and the risk to populated areas was calculated as very low by the US Space Force.
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