2 publishers · first seen Mon, 26 Oct 2026 18:43 UTC · updated Mon, 26 Oct 2026 21:45 UTC
NASA has officially ended the mission of the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory after more than 20 years of operation, with the final science data collected on October 20. The telescope, which launched in November 2004 to study gamma-ray bursts and other high-energy cosmic events, fell too low in its orbit to continue reliable observations.
A rescue attempt by Katalyst Space Technologies using its LINK spacecraft failed after launch on July 3, due to propulsion and orientation system issues, preventing it from boosting Swift to a higher orbit. The observatory is expected to reenter Earth's atmosphere in the next few weeks, concluding a mission that contributed to about 7,000 scientific papers.
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