NASA and a company called Katalyst Space Technologies are in a rush to rescue NASA’s Swift satellite. The Swift satellite is a telescope that orbits around the earth and send signals about gamma wave busts to research centers back on Earth. Gamma wave bursts are the most energetic explosions known in the universe.
According to News For Kids, “Swift was first launched in 2004 and has cost NASA around $500 million. But now, the telescope is 21 years old and is slowly falling toward Earth.” Since it is falling toward Earth’s atmosphere, it will burn into ashes, wasting and basically waste 5 million dollars.
To prevent this, NASA and company called Katalyst Space Technologies are working together to stop it from burning. They built a rescue satellite called the Link which would usually take years. It looks similar to a refrigerator and weighs 937 pounds or 425 kilograms. Additionally, The Link spacecraft has three robotic arms and three thrusters. The spacecraft, launched last Friday, is going to grab the telescope and push the Swift to a higher orbit.
Instead of a normal takeoff from the ground, the Link was taken on a plane and then launched off. According to News For Kids, “That’s when the hard part begins. NASA and Katalyst engineers will study Swift to figure out how to grab onto it.” The Link will use cameras and censors to find the telescope. The challenge is risky, but it is worth the risk.