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NASA's doomed Swift space telescope restarts science work after rescue mission fails
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NASA's Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory has resumed its scientific observations after a failed orbital rescue attempt, but the aging spacecraft's days are now numbered. Controllers successfully restarted two of its three main science instruments on August 26, marking a return to cosmic study after months in a power-saving, low-drag mode. The venerable space telescope, launched in 2004 and now nearly 22 years old, continues its mission despite a newly uncertain future.
The restart followed the August 19 decision to abandon the core objective of a robotic rescue mission. The mission, named LINK and built by Katalyst Space, launched in July with the goal of boosting Swift to a higher orbit. However, the spacecraft developed severe attitude-control problems in late July, rendering its capture-and-boost capability impossible.
With the rescue now off the table, Swift's operational window has closed dramatically. The observatory had been placed in a low-drag configuration since February to preserve altitude, a state expected to sustain it until October. Now, with science instruments back online, atmospheric drag will increase, accelerating its orbital decay.
NASA now projects the spacecraft will reach the critical altitude of 185 miles (300 kilometers) within the next one to two months. Below this threshold, operations become untenable and descent rapidly accelerates. Without any onboard propulsion system to counteract drag, the telescope is expected to ultimately reenter Earth's atmosphere and largely burn up later this year.
Despite its impending loss, the team is maximizing its final scientific output. The Burst Alert Telescope, the third instrument, was shut down in April to conserve power for drag reduction and is expected to resume operations within weeks. The resumed activity aims to capture as much data as possible from this unique cosmic multi-wavelength observer.
Over its two-decade career, Swift has served as a critical 'multitool' for astronomy, rapidly detecting and alerting other observatories to gamma-ray bursts and other transient cosmic events. The failed rescue mission has transformed its final chapter from a life extension into a final, frantic burst of science before atmospheric reentry ends a prolific mission.
