Almost 22 years after its launch, NASA’s Swift Observatory is set to fall back to Earth on Wednesday following failed attempts to push the spacecraft into a higher orbit. NASA announced that the aging space telescope is anticipated to re-enter the atmosphere at approximately 3:30 AM ET, with an uncertainty window of 11 hours, and expects most of the structure to burn up while some components are likely to survive.
Spacecraft Size and Re-entry Risks
The observatory weighs approximately 3,200 pounds and measures 5.6 meters high and 5.4 meters wide, with much of that width comprising deployable solar arrays. NASA stated that the risk of surviving components causing harm is low.
Re-entry locations of any surviving pieces can vary from hemisphere to hemisphere depending on the exact re-entry timing. Because of Swift’s low inclination, the locations of surviving fragments are restricted between 20.6 degrees south latitude and 20.6 degrees north latitude.
NASA noted, “The risk of harm coming to anyone on Earth is unlikely — approximately 1 in 2,100. NASA and Space Force will continue to monitor the re-entry and update predictions.”
Mission History and Final Descent
The agency abandoned rescue efforts earlier this year after the Link spacecraft attempting the intervention encountered technical problems with attitude control. Despite the failed recovery, Swift significantly surpassed its original two-year prime mission, which focused on studying the origin of gamma-ray bursts, and later functioned as a general-purpose multiwavelength observatory until solar storms forced it into a lower orbit.
Observers can track the descent of the observatory by following NASA’s official blog for ongoing updates.
