Swift Telescope Rescue
NASA launches a robot mission to save the falling Swift observatory.
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Northrop Grumman launched Katalyst Space Technologies’ Link spacecraft from the Marshall Islands on Friday, starting a NASA-funded rescue of the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory. The Pegasus rocket, released from a modified aircraft, reached orbit after a last-minute launch problem delayed the mission. Link is to rendezvous with Swift, grab it with three arms and raise its orbit because the 22-year-old telescope has no propulsion. Swift, launched in 2004, has been pushed lower by solar activity and could reenter Earth’s atmosphere in coming months.
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