WASHINGTON: NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory fell out of orbit and burned up over Indonesia on Wednesday. The event ended a 22-year mission studying cosmic energy blasts.
The 3,200-pound telescope re-entered the atmosphere at 7:39 a.m. EST over North Sumatra and travelled at roughly 22 times the speed of sound.
Extreme heat incinerated most of the spacecraft. US officials reported no injuries or ground damage. The spacecraft fell after a robotic rescue attempt failed. In July, NASA and startup Katalyst Space launched a vehicle named LINK.
The mission aimed to boost the unpowered satellite into a higher orbit. However, LINK began spinning uncontrollably in space. Managers abandoned the effort in mid-August.
Read: NASA Robotic Rescue of Swift Telescope Delayed
NASA launched Swift in 2004 with a two-year design life. The observatory operated until October 20. It captured gamma-ray bursts, supernovas, and black holes, feeding data into 7,000 scientific papers.
NASA’s 22-year-old Swift satellite telescope re-entered Earth’s atmosphere and burned up over Indonesia after a failed rescue mission.
(With additional input from Reuters)
