Ground controllers commanded the 3,200-pound Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory to cease operations at an altitude of 171 miles after it lost maneuvering and observational capabilities. The decommissioned satellite will make an uncontrolled atmospheric re-entry following a failed commercial effort to boost it into a safer orbit. While surviving fragments could land within a specified equatorial corridor, the threat to human life remains very low. Originally engineered for a brief two-year run, the observatory spent two decades recording over 2,000 cosmic gamma-ray bursts before its propulsion systems failed.
Key points
The satellite operated for nearly twenty years despite being originally designed under th…: The satellite operated for nearly twenty years despite being originally designed under the Midex program for only a two-year mission.
A commercial rescue mission intended to boost the aging spacecraft into a higher orbit fa…: A commercial rescue mission intended to boost the aging spacecraft into a higher orbit failed after it missed rendezvous.
Over its extended operational lifetime, the telescope monitored over 2,000 gamma-ray burs…: Over its extended operational lifetime, the telescope monitored over 2,000 gamma-ray bursts, supernovas, active galaxies, and a star shredded by a black hole.
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Nasa’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, which has spent two decades studying the most powerful explosions in the cosmos, is expected to re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere on Wednesday, burning up in the process.
The satellite, which was designed to operate with its three telescopes for just two years, is no longer able to steer or observe, and its re-entry is uncontrolled.
The US Space Force predicts the 3,200lb spacecraft will hit the atmosphere at about 3.30am EST on 4 November. Nasa says most of the spacecraft is set to burn up, but some components are expected to survive.
“Re-entry locations of any surviving components can vary from hemisphere to hemisphere and depend on when it re-enters,” the agency said in a blog post, adding that surviving fragments are limited between 20.6 degrees south latitude and 20.6 degrees north latitude.
The agency continued: “The risk of harm coming to anyone on Earth is unlikely – approximately 1 in 2,100. NASA and Space Force will continue to monitor the re-entry and update predictions.”
The observatory was launched in 2004 to explore the universe’s…
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