Swift Telescope Reenters Over Indonesia After Failed Rescue

NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory reentered Earth’s atmosphere over Indonesia on Wednesday, November 4, ending a mission that lasted about 22 years after a failed attempt to raise the telescope into a higher orbit. The US Space Force confirmed the reentry at 7:39 a.m. EST over North Sumatra, NASA said. No injuries or damage on the ground had been reported. NASA expected most of the 1,452-kilogram spacecraft to burn up in the atmosphere, though some fragments could survive. Whether any debris reached the ground was not established in the reports. Before reentry, NASA estimated the chance of harm to anyone on Earth at one in 2,100. The Aerospace Corporation said that estimate exceeded the US government’s one-in-10,000 casualty-risk benchmark, which refers to serious injury or death. Swift stopped science operations on October 20 after months of declining orbital stability. NASA had been working with Arizona-based Katalyst Space Technologies on a rescue effort using its LINK spacecraft, designed to rendezvous with Swift and boost it into a higher orbit. LINK began spinning uncontrollably after launch in July. On August 19, NASA announced it would not attempt to capture or...