NASA’s Swift Mission Ends Ahead of Re-Entry

NASA's Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory has concluded operations, leaving behind a legacy of innovation and a treasure trove of science observations. The spacecraft is expected to re-enter the atmosphere in the next few weeks.

All satellites in low Earth orbit experience atmospheric drag. Recent solar activity increased this effect on Swift, which began to sink rapidly. A high-risk, fast-turnaround servicing mission ended in August without an attempt to boost the observatory.

Swift then restarted science observations, which the team had paused to minimize drag and extend the satellite's time in orbit to support the boost mission. Since that time, Swift has observed hundreds of science targets, ranging from the remnants of stellar explosions to active supermassive black holes in distant galaxies and comets in our own solar system.

The return to observations increased drag on the spacecraft, and Swift again began to sink rapidly.

On Oct. 20, Swift reached 171 miles (275 kilometers). At this point, the spacecraft was no longer able to compensate for the effects of the increased drag and entered safe mode. The operations team at Penn State in University Park then sent a command to the spacecraft that effectively ended Swift operations to prepare it for re-entry.

Follow the Swift blog for updates:

https://science.nasa.gov/blogs/swift