Failure to Rescue NASA Satellite from Burning Up in the Atmosphere

NASA announced on Wednesday that a complex mission to prevent one of its aging telescopes from burning up in the atmosphere had failed, due to the inability to control the spacecraft designated for the rescue operation.

The Swift space telescope, which studies the most powerful explosions in the universe, is now expected to fall back to Earth and disintegrate later this year.

The unprecedented initiative, which cost $30 million, involved sending a robot to rescue the telescope by moving it to a higher orbit.

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said, “This is not the outcome we were hoping for, but it does not change the fact that the mission was worth attempting.”

Scientists had hoped the mission would pave the way for extending the lives of other satellites.

Isaacman added, “The team moved at an unprecedented pace to give Swift a chance to conduct further scientific research, while enhancing the capabilities the United States will need in the future to service satellites.”

The U.S.-based startup Catalyst developed the space robot, which was launched aboard a small Pegasus rocket carried by an aircraft.

In announcing the mission’s failure on Wednesday, Catalyst cited “ongoing attitude control issues” as the reason for its decision, in coordination with NASA, to cancel the mission.