Nasa’s 22-year-old Swift satellite telescope falls from orbit in fiery finale
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. The fiery demise of the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, weighing roughly 3,200 pounds (1,452kg), came less than three months after a rescue spacecraft…
NASA's Swift satellite telescope, a marvel of space exploration, met its fiery end on Wednesday as it concluded a remarkable 22-year mission studying the most powerful cosmic blasts. The satellite, weighing roughly 3,200 pounds, disintegrated upon re-entering Earth's atmosphere over Indonesia's North Sumatra province, around 200 miles north of the equator.
This event took place just three months after a rescue spacecraft, named Link, failed to boost Swift to a higher orbit. The US Space Force reported that Swift re-entered the atmosphere at approximately 22 times the speed of sound, with the frictional heat incinerating most of the satellite well above Earth's surface. NASA anticipated some fragments to survive the plunge, but the agency confirmed no damage or injuries on the ground.
The risk of harm posed to populated areas was assessed as very low, with the probability of someone on Earth being affected at just one in 2,100. Despite its successful career, Swift's 2-year design life had long passed, and the satellite had been drifting towards orbital instability for months.
Written by urgent.news from South China Morning Post's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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