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NASA ends Swift observatory science mission as orbit decays
NASA said the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory has ended science operations after dropping below 171 miles altitude, with re-entry expected in weeks.
NASA said Friday that the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory has ended its science mission after the spacecraft fell below 171 miles (275 kilometers) in altitude, where atmospheric drag prevents its telescopes from holding a steady gaze on astronomical targets1.
The agency said Swift made its final observation on Oct. 20 and is expected to re-enter Earth's atmosphere in the next few weeks1.
Swift launched Nov. 20, 2004, for a two-year primary mission and later was renamed for first principal investigator Neil Gehrels after his death1. NASA said the satellite observed more than 2,000 gamma-ray bursts and more than 1,400 supernova explosions, and that its data contributed to about 7,000 published papers1.
Mission principal investigator S. Bradley Cenko of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center said Swift was built to detect gamma-ray bursts, relay their positions, and slew its telescopes to image afterglows, typically in about a minute1. NASA said a May 2005 observation of GRB 050509B produced the first detected afterglow of a short burst, supporting models that those events come from neutron-star mergers1.
The public Swift archive holds nearly 22 years of outburst measurements, spectra, more than 1.5 million ultraviolet/optical images, and about 12 terabytes of data, NASA said1. Shawn Domagal-Goldman, director of the Astrophysics Division at NASA Headquarters, said the agency is exploring existing telescopes and new missions to keep rapid-response coverage after Swift1.