NASA is preparing to launch a daring mission to save a precious space telescope from plunging back to Earth.
The Swift Observatory – NASA’s ‘multitool’ for studying the cosmos – was launched in 2004 but has been falling rapidly due to intense solar weather.
To save it, the space agency has hired startup Katalyst Space Technologies to boost the tumbling telescope back into a stable orbit.
And the ambitious ‘high-risk, high-reward mission’ could blast off as soon as tomorrow.
The $30 million (£22.7 million) salvage operation will launch a fridge-sized robot into orbit, docking with Swift and gently carrying it out into space.
The rescue robot, dubbed Link, sports three arms just over three feet (one metre) in length that end in two finger-like pinchers resembling the hands of a Lego minifigure.
Once these arms grab hold of Swift, Link will spend several months raising its altitude from a dangerously low 224 miles (360 km) to a more stable 373 miles (600 km) above Earth.
If all goes according to plan, this could extend Swift’s lifetime by at least a year and pave the way for a mission to save the Hubble Space Telescope in the future.
NASA is preparing to launch a daring mission to push a doomed space telescope back out into space using a three-armed robot (artist’s impression)
The Swift Observatory is a critical instrument because, as its name suggests, it is able to turn quickly and catch fleeting events like supernova explosions.
However, in 2024, the sun reached the peak of its 11-year solar cycle, triggering a period of intense space weather that was far more severe than expected.
This space weather caused Earth’s atmosphere to slightly expand, increasing the drag on satellites and pulling them back down to Earth.
Soon it became clear that, unless something was done almost immediately, Swift could burn up in the atmosphere by the end of 2026.
Nicky Fox, NASA’s science mission chief, told The Associated Press: ‘If we let Swift re-enter, we would lose that telescope. We would lose a lot of capability.
‘We don’t currently have the budget to build another one to replace that.’
In September last year, NASA hired Katalyst Space Technologies to find a way to preserve Swift into the future.
But to save the observatory, they needed to start boosting its orbit before it hit the point of no return at 185 miles (300 km) above Earth.
The $30 million (£22.7 million) salvage operation will launch a fridge-sized robot (pictured) into orbit, docking with Swift and gently carrying it out into space
The Swift Observatory was launched in 2004, but intense space weather has degraded its orbit and it could crash back to Earth by the end of this year unless action is taken
NASA hired the US-based startup Katalyst Space Technologies to design a spacecraft (pictured) that could push Swift back into a stable orbit before it passed a point of no return
With Swift expected to pass that critical altitude in November, there was less than a year to design, build, and launch the new robot.
However, against all odds, Link is now ready to launch and attempt to save NASA’s precious space telescope.
Shawn Domagal-Goldman, NASA’s astrophysics director, says: ‘I have to be honest. No one thought it was going to be possible. No one thought we would get as far as we’ve already gotten today.’
The robot will be launched from an atoll in the Pacific Ocean’s Marshall Islands aboard a Northrop Grumman Pegasus rocket strapped to the belly of a plane.
Once the plane reaches around 40,000 feet (12,190 metres), the rocket will detach and free-fall for a few seconds before firing its three-stage motors and taking Link into orbit within 10 minutes.
The spacecraft will need to travel for about a month to rendezvous with Swift and catch it, and a few more months to gently push it back into orbit.
That means Swift could be back at full operational capacity by September, extending the observatory’s lifetime by years.
While the mission is not without its risks and success is not guaranteed, the potential savings for NASA make this risky task worth the danger.
The robot, dubbed Link (pictured), is now ready to launch and will soon be on its way to rendezvous with Swift
Link will be launched on a Northrop Grumman Pegasus rocket that will be taken to 40,000 feet strapped to the belly of a plane (pictured)
Swift originally cost $250 million (£189.2 million), and with NASA’s science mission budget having been slashed by 47 per cent, there simply isn’t the money to replace it.
Mr Domagal-Goldman says: ‘This is a high-risk, high-reward mission. We have much to gain by attempting this boost, which is more affordable than trying to replace Swift’s capabilities.’
This will also be an important test for Katalyst Space Technologies’ ability to salvage and preserve doomed spacecraft.
Those are capabilities that may soon be needed to save the Hubble Space Telescope, which has also been affected by the intense solar weather.
The 36-year-old telescope was serviced five times during the shuttle era, with spacewalking astronauts making repairs and fixing a critical optical issue in the main mirror.
However, the ageing observatory is now slipping out of its stable orbit and could need to be boosted in 2028 to remain operational.
Any lessons learned while moving Swift this year could be key to ensuring that this critical piece of technology isn’t damaged in the process.
Ghonhee Lee, CEO of Katalyst, says: ‘Swift wasn’t designed to be serviced. By demonstrating we can quickly and cost-effectively extend its lifetime, we’re creating a blueprint for servicing spacecraft that were never designed for on-orbit maintenance.
NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope is still working and has made more than 1.5 million observations since its mission began in 1990
The Hubble telescope was launched on April 24, 1990, via the space shuttle Discovery from Kennedy Space Centre in Florida.
It is named after famed astronomer Edwin Hubble who was born in Missouri in 1889.
He is arguably most famous for discovering that the universe is expanding and the rate at which is does so – now coined the Hubble constant.
The Hubble telescope is named after famed astronomer Edwin Hubble who was born in Missouri in 1889 (pictured)
Hubble has made more than 1.5 million observations since its mission began in 1990 and helped publish some 18,000 scientific papers.
It circles the Earth at a speed of about 17,000mph (27,300kph) in low Earth orbit at about 340 miles in altitude.
Hubble has the pointing accuracy of .007 arc seconds, which is like being able to shine a laser beam focused on Franklin D. Roosevelt’s head on a dime roughly 200 miles (320km) away.
The Hubble telescope is named after Edwin Hubble who was responsible for coming up with the Hubble constant and is one of the greatest astronomers of all-time
Hubble’s primary mirror is 2.4 meters (7 feet, 10.5 inches) across and in total is 13.3 meters (43.5 feet) long – the length of a large school bus.
Hubble’s launch and deployment in April 1990 marked the most significant advance in astronomy since Galileo’s telescope.
Thanks to five servicing missions and more than 25 years of operation, our view of the universe and our place within it has never been the same.
