NASA has failed to rescue the rapidly sinking Swift Observatory telescope, citing the rescue spacecraft could not be easily controlled.
According to the US space agency , the Swift space telescope is now bound to fall back to Earth and disintegrate along the way later this year. The telescope is designed to study the most powerful explosions including Gamma rays in the universe.
Earlier to save this aging telescope, NASA initiated a $30 million mission aimed at sending a robot-based spacecraft to capture the telescope and move it farther into orbit.
The unmanned spacecraft developed by American startup Katalyst was launched on July 3 aboard a small rocket named Pegasus.
The news of spacecraft having been out of control came on July 28. It remained out-of-control spin for 72 hours with multiple problems including a loss of communications.
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said, “This is not the outcome we were working toward, but it does not change why this mission was worth attempting.”
“The team moved with extraordinary speed to give Swift a chance to carry out more science while advancing capabilities America will need for satellite servicing in the future,” Isaacman added.
NASA announced that the spacecraft will still try to reach the Swift telescope to gather valuable data for future missions.
According to Katalyst ongoing control issues were the main reason behind calling the mission off.
