Technology and Scienceupdated 1h ago2 min read
NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory Plunges Into Earth’s Atmosphere Over Indonesia
“Both estimates suggest the Swift spacecraft could have already met its demise as of Wednesday morning, though no official confirmation has been shared.”
“NASA predicted its reentry time at around 3:30 a.m. ET on Nov. 4, with an 11-hour window of uncertainty on either side.”
This article is an automated aggregation of coverage from news outlets. Our editorials offer in-depth analysis curated by the NewsCord team.
Swift Observatory re-entered Earth's atmosphere over Indonesia at about 7:39 a.m. ET. Most of the 1.5-tonne spacecraft burned up during reentry; some debris may reach ground.
Save coverage image
Swift’s uncontrolled return
NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory plunged back into Earth’s atmosphere over Indonesia around 7:39 a.m. ET after nearly 22 years in orbit, ending a mission that had been expected to last about two years.
The U.S. Space Force estimated the spacecraft’s reentry timing, and NASA predicted that while most of the observatory would burn up, some pieces could survive.
NASA said, "At this point, the spacecraft was no longer able to compensate for the effects of the increased drag and entered safe mode," as solar activity intensified atmospheric drag.
NASA’s partner team at Penn State sent the final kill-switch command to Swift on October 20, and the observatory officially stopped gathering scientific data.
Katalyst Space Technologies had attempted a rescue by launching LINK in July, but the mission failed after the satellite spun out of control before reaching the Swift observatory.
Risk estimates and tracking
NASA previously predicted that the "risk of harm coming to anyone on Earth is unlikely, approximately 1 in 2,100," and the U.S. Space Force tracked Swift’s sinking orbit near Indonesia.
The Aerospace Corporation said current orbital debris mitigation standards, updated in 2019, mandate that "uncontrolled reentries have an expected casualty of less than 1 in 10,000," with "casualty" defined as "serious injury or death."
A 3,200-pound estimate of Swift’s mass appeared alongside NASA’s expectation that some components might survive reentry, even as most of the structure was expected to burn up.
The reentry path was confined to a band between 20.6 degrees north and 20.6 degrees south latitude, and the exact location remained uncertain until the moment of atmospheric entry.
The Aerospace Corporation also provided a separate reentry estimate, while NASA continued to monitor the descent and update forecasts as the window approached.
What Swift leaves behind
Swift’s mission had served as an astrophysics multi-tool in low-Earth orbit since it launched in November 2004, and it was designed to study gamma-ray bursts.
NASA said Swift’s X-Ray Telescope captured the afterglow of gamma-ray burst GRB 221009A about an hour after it was first detected, and the observatory also observed thousands of other events.
NASA’s analysis of industry interest followed Swift’s demise, and the agency issued a solicitation called a Request for Proposals to commercial companies about boosting, servicing, or prolonging Hubble.
NASA’s RFP said there’s a 10% chance Hubble will plunge out of orbit by 2032 and a 50% it will deorbit by 2033, and it stated there is no replacement for Hubble expected before the 2040s.
Penn State astronomer John Nousek said, "We've known this day would come since before Swift was launched," and he added, "At least in low-Earth orbit, what goes up must come down. And that end is catastrophic," as scientists worked to understand how to replace Swift’s role.