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Swift Telescope Rescue Mission Ends | Richmond News
NASA’s Swift Observatory, the cosmic firewatcher that’s been tracking supernovas and gamma-ray bursts for 20 years, is being retired — not by design, but by fate. A last-ditch rescue mission led by private company Katalyst Space Technologies, backed with $30 million, aimed to snag Swift and lift it to a safer orbit. But just weeks after launching in July, Katalyst’s Link spacecraft spiraled out of control — they could stabilize its spin but couldn’t fix its orientation. The mission ended in failure, leaving Swift destined for a fiery atmospheric re-entry after October. Though NASA’s…
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